Work Text:
The crowds wasted no time showing up that day. The streets were packed with people; it was barely six in the evening, and there were already plenty—far too many—people in costumes. Some were more elaborate than others, some were genuinely terrifying, and some were... well, what mattered was the effort.
Even the little ones were already out in their costumes, trying their best to look intimidating, though all they really managed to do was look adorable.
It was the afternoon of October thirty-first, so the festivities were already in full swing despite it still being relatively early.
Usually, Halloween in Seoul meant parties. That was the tradition: costume parties, spooky-themed parties. But over the last couple of years, the American tradition of trick-or-treating had grown increasingly popular, so people were fairly divided. Young adults and adults went to parties, while teenagers and children had taken to going door-to-door asking for candy.
And, well, they weren't about to make the same mistake they had made last year.
Everyone knew where the Huntr/x tower—and their penthouse—was located, and even though the building had restricted access, that hadn't stopped the lobby buzzer from ringing far too many times that night. They had learned their lesson the hard way the previous Halloween, when, assuming there wouldn't be that many people ringing their buzzer, they'd only bought a couple bags of candy.
Those had run out within the first hour.
They'd panicked and ended up emptying the refrigerator.
By the end of the night, they had no ramyeon left, no tubs of ice cream, none of the chocolate bars they kept for emergencies, and their entire snack stash had been wiped out. Not even the expensive snacks reserved for special occasions had survived. At one point, they'd even ended up giving away a bottle of wine when a group of young adults showed up.
Thank God that had never become public knowledge.
Still, the buzzer had kept ringing, forcing them to go out in search of more candy—which turned out to be impossible, since everything was sold out.
They had to be prepared this year.
The problem was that this time of year was incredibly busy, and they'd been particularly occupied filming a "live" show for Halloween night. It wasn't actually live, of course; it was prerecorded and scheduled to air that evening. The show included a small baking competition between the three of them, where they had to bake and decorate Halloween-themed cakes, followed by a walk through a hallway filled with cobwebs and other things designed to scare them. Considering they'd fought actual demons before, none of it was particularly frightening, so they'd resorted to faking their reactions.
Finally, they had performed a short Halloween-themed show and concert.
They had finished filming everything the day before with the program that had invited them, which meant they hadn't had any time to buy what they needed.
Fortunately, Bobby had taken care of decorating the penthouse.
But they still needed candy.
And Mira and Zoey had taken it upon themselves to get it.
They had finished their group activities earlier that morning after attending yet another interview for another program, this one scheduled to air right at midnight that same night, a few hours after the show they'd finished filming the day before. That one had been costume-themed, and they'd had to participate in several games—some of them a little too intense for their liking—like pinning the fangs on the vampire or straight-up sticking their hands into a bowl filled with nonvenomous spiders.
Anyway.
After all of that, the one thing keeping them going was the horror movie night they'd planned for themselves: all three of them together on the enormous living room couch, surrounded by the ridiculous amount of snacks they'd bought beforehand—snacks that would probably get them grounded for life if their nutritionist and dietitian ever found out.
But there was no reason for them to find out.
They never did.
All they needed now was for Rumi to come home later that night, and everything would be perfect. She had left about half an hour earlier to head to the agency for a meeting with Celine about a solo project she'd been working on. The project itself was actually meant to eventually give all three of them solo singles while always keeping the group as their main priority, and the plan was starting with Rumi.
They were excited for her.
Between writing new songs for Huntr/x, rehearsals, performances, recordings, appearances on different shows, Rumi's solo project running alongside everything they were already doing as a group, and everything else piled onto their schedules, they'd barely had any time together beyond taking a quick shower and collapsing into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows.
So they'd been planning that night just for themselves.
Mira had even bought a bottle of wine—Rumi's favorite—imported from Italy. It had been incredibly difficult to get, not because of the price, but because hardly anyone imported it. Still, she'd managed to find a bottle. They hadn't told Rumi yet; it was supposed to be a surprise for after they finished their horror movie marathon.
They knew each other perfectly well. They knew that once they finished the movie marathon Zoey had picked out, a make-out session was inevitable. And considering they hadn't done anything in the past two weeks thanks to their exhausting schedules and ridiculously long workdays, chances were they'd end up tangled together in bed until very late.
And what better addition than a good bottle of wine? A little alcohol always made things more fun.
The promise of an entertaining night in more ways than one had them excited, but for now, they needed to focus on getting the candy.
Mira and Zoey walked through the less crowded streets—or at least tried to find some, considering there were people absolutely everywhere—in search of a candy store that hadn't been completely cleaned out yet. Mira wore a hooded sweatshirt—Rumi's—hiding her distinctive pink hair, along with sunglasses and a face mask. Zoey had opted for her sweatshirt with Derpy printed across the chest, a bucket hat, and a discreet face mask of her own.
Usually, they avoided wearing face masks because, somehow, they had the exact opposite effect of making them discreet. Instead, they seemed to draw even more attention. Neither of them knew why, but that didn't appear to be a problem that day with so many people already roaming the streets in costume. And although the streets were somewhat cramped, the crowds actually made it easier for them to go unnoticed.
"Uh... lollipops?"
"Zoey, if we're buying candy, we're getting the good stuff." Mira raised an eyebrow at her.
"Those ARE good!"
"Keep your voice down!" Mira scolded. Looking unrecognizable didn't mean people wouldn't recognize their voices.
"Sorry!" Zoey said with a little giggle. "But still, lollipops are really good."
"I know, Zo, but they're... well, cheap."
"Good AND cheap! Best of both worlds."
Mira rolled her eyes, though a smile spread across her face beneath the mask. She quickened her pace slightly to catch up with Zoey, who had stopped in front of a candy store only to discover that they were already closing.
"There goes another one..." she sighed, disappointed.
"Is this the eighth?"
"The tenth."
They looked at each other.
They had already checked ten candy stores only to find...
Nothing.
Literally.
Mira pulled up the map on her phone and quickly typed something in.
"It says there's another one about a kilometer from here," she said, showing Zoey the map.
They had already gone through every candy store downtown without any luck, so they'd finally decided to try some farther away from the crowds. Zoey nodded enthusiastically, and they started walking again. This time, Zoey slowed her hurried pace until she was walking beside Mira and reached for her hand. Mira immediately relaxed at the gesture, curling her fingers around Zoey's as they continued walking for a while longer.
"It's this way..." Mira pointed toward a street blocked off by Halloween decorations that made getting through impossible. Apparently, the street had been reserved for some kind of event and had already been closed off, leaving them with no way through.
"Seriously!?" Zoey groaned in frustration.
"Yeah, there's no way through... We can look for another one nearby." Mira started typing on her phone again.
"Oh!"
"What?"
"Look over there!"
Mira followed the direction Zoey was pointing so excitedly. There was some kind of alleyway that seemed to connect to a passage between the streets, and at the far end, there appeared to be an exit.
They both smiled.
There was no harm in trying. The other candy stores were farther away and they were running out of time. Besides, as hunters, they'd had to use passages like this all the time.
Zoey grabbed Mira's hand, quickly muttering, "Gaja, gaja, gaja," and Mira simply let herself be dragged along with a smile.
They squeezed through a narrow opening that they could barely fit through, taking a few steps before the passage widened. When they finally emerged on the other side, what surprised them wasn't the number of people there, but the sheer amount of stalls set up specifically throughout the passageway.
It was almost like a tiny market, packed with stands selling all kinds of things, children running around, adults browsing, and the two of them simply staring in amazement.
It felt as though they'd stumbled into a part of Seoul they'd never seen before.
"Mira!" Zoey exclaimed. "We can buy the candy here! There's so much!"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Zo." Mira tilted her head as she eyed the loose candy of questionable origin displayed across several stalls. "Let's stick to the original plan."
"Fine, fine." Zoey rolled her eyes without losing her smile. "But if we don't find any candy at the store, we're coming back for this."
Mira finally nodded in agreement.
She smiled to herself when Zoey took her hand again and practically dragged her through the alley. It was actually kind of entertaining to walk around looking at the small stalls that seemed to have everything imaginable while they continued toward their destination.
And just when Mira thought they had everything, she realized they really did mean everything.
Including things she'd never even seen before.
Zoey squealed in front of her.
Mira looked at her curiously from behind her sunglasses before Zoey dragged her toward a stall filled with Halloween masks, ranging from the classic Dracula and werewolf masks to a few clown ones that, if Mira remembered correctly, were from the Terrifier movies.
Zoey excitedly looked through them, trying several on and making Mira laugh. Mira certainly wasn't going to waste the opportunity to add pictures of her girl attempting to look terrifying to her camera roll.
In the end, Zoey couldn't resist buying three matching masks—the ones Mira recognized as Ghostface. One was the original, another had a long red tongue sticking out, and the third was purple with a pair of little horns.
"For Rumi," Zoey had said.
Eventually, they moved on to more stalls, with Zoey taking the opportunity to pick up a few decorations along the way, until they stopped at one in particular.
"Mira!" She pointed toward some little figurines displayed at one of the stalls.
"We already have those, Zo." Mira smiled at her. She loved seeing Zoey this excited.
Zoey nodded, and just as they were about to leave, the vendor tried to catch their attention again by showing them another section of his stall, probably hoping to make a sale.
When they turned around and saw it, both Mira and Zoey's eyes widened, neither of them quite sure whether that was a good or bad thing.
There was an entire collection of Halloween costumes in front of them.
But not just costumes.
An entire collection of Halloween-themed lingerie was on display, and depending on the theme, some of the sets came with what Zoey recognized as devil "tails."
Mira, however, knew they were more than that.
The moment she noticed the shiny metallic structure at the base, she immediately recognized them as plugs. Zoey didn't realize it at first, wondering why the tails didn't come with belts to attach them to the costumes, but Mira knew perfectly well that they were meant to be worn another way.
So when Zoey curiously reached out to touch one, Mira panicked and yanked her back before her fingers could get anywhere near the fabric. She pointed toward the base of the tail.
Zoey's eyes widened.
Then she immediately turned red.
Mira simply let out a quiet laugh before pulling her away.
They had seen more than enough.
They decided it was time to get out of there.
They were about to turn the last corner before leaving the small—or, as it turned out, not-so-small—alleyway when a voice caught their attention.
Strangely enough, the sound sent a shiver down their spines before they could even figure out where it was coming from.
They slowly turned their heads toward it.
A small stall stood nearby, an elderly woman standing upright behind it. She looked old—very old—but somehow, her posture seemed far too strong for someone her age.
Mira took a few more steps forward, but Zoey tugged on her hand.
She glanced back and saw the younger girl staring at the same stall.
"Zo..."
"Look what she has over there." Zoey pointed toward the table.
All it took was one smile from Zoey for Mira to give in and take a look at what the little stall had to offer.
"Come closer, girls. Are you looking for anything in particular?" the woman asked. Even though she tried to sound cordial, there was still something about her voice that sent shivers down their spines.
"Just looking," Mira replied neutrally.
Zoey, on the other hand, studied the objects with curiosity. Her eyes wandered over everything on display, from small charms based on Korean urban legends to larger boards covered in drawings neither of them could recognize.
"You like that, child?" the woman asked again, following Zoey's gaze.
"Uh... no. Well, I don't know. What is this?" Zoey asked, pointing toward the boards.
"It's a demon caller."
"What?"
This time, they both asked at once.
"Have you ever heard of dark board games?"
"Uh... Zo, I don't think—" Mira began.
"It's something like a Ouija board," the woman continued, "but this one is specifically meant to call demons. If you play it properly and follow the instructions, you can summon any demon you want."
Both of them fell silent.
That had been far too specific.
"Demons aren't real," Mira protested—a white lie, but a necessary one, as far as she was concerned.
"Don't be so sure, child."
Mira made a displeased sound at the answer.
"Sometimes, the biggest skeptics are the ones who end up having the worst experiences with these things."
"Thank you!" Zoey intervened when she noticed Mira was about to answer, and judging by the expression beneath her dark sunglasses, whatever she was about to say wouldn't have been particularly nice. "We'll think about it. We have to go now, but maybe we'll come back and take another look on our way back."
She took Mira's hand and started leading her away.
"I assure you, it works. You should try it. Otherwise, perhaps someone else will. Someone a little less skeptical, maybe."
"Thanks, but... uh, we'll think about it, okay? Thank you!"
Zoey dragged Mira away.
They walked a little farther until the stall was finally out of sight and eventually reached the end of the alley.
"Mimi, what happened? Why did you get so mad? She was just an old lady trying to sell us her stuff." The younger girl finally dared to speak when she noticed Mira was still clenching her fists.
"There was something about her I really didn't like."
"Oh, come on!" Zoey smiled. "You don't actually think that thing is real, do you? Don't let it get to you."
"Still, there was something about her that..."
"Mimi."
Zoey cupped Mira's cheeks, rising slightly onto her tiptoes.
"It's okay. She gave me weird vibes too, but she's probably just someone trying to sell her stuff."
"You're right." Mira finally gave in, taking Zoey's hands—still resting against her cheeks—into her own. "Maybe she seemed so shady because she was selling without a permit."
"Without a permit? Without the demons' permission?"
"No, Zo..."
"Then whose?"
"The government's. When you set up a stall during festivals like this, you usually have to pay or get some kind of permit to use public space."
"Oh!" Zoey laughed. "You're right... Look!"
She suddenly pointed ahead, visibly excited.
Mira followed the direction Zoey was pointing, and her eyes widened too.
Finally.
Exactly what they'd been looking for.
A candy store that was still open and, judging by what they could see through the windows, still pretty well stocked.
Once they got closer, they realized it didn't just carry the kind of candy you'd find at any regular candy store. It also had a selection of expensive chocolates and sweets that fell squarely into the gourmet category: the famous Dubai chocolates, imported candy from all over the world, and plenty of other high-end treats.
Maybe that was why the store still had so much left. None of it was cheap, and the place itself was somewhat hidden away.
Then again, they were Mira and Zoey from Huntr/x.
Besides their own individual bank accounts, the three of them also had a shared account with an obscene number of zeros in it and a first digit dangerously close to ten, completely free for them to use and specifically reserved for emergencies.
And this counted as an emergency, right?
"Let's go!" Zoey practically bounced with excitement as she grabbed Mira's hand.
Mira happily let herself be pulled along, enjoying the contact—and the fact that they'd finally found exactly what they'd been searching for.
They had planned on buying a lot of candy, but not too much. Ever since the previous year, it had become public knowledge that Huntr/x handed out candy on Halloween, so they knew they needed a decent amount. Still, there was no reason to go overboard. Once they ran out, they could simply put up a little sign apologizing and announcing that they were out of treats.
Of course, their definition of "not too much" somehow ended up meaning buying the candy store's entire remaining stock.
In the end, it became obvious that there was no way they could carry everything from the candy store by themselves, so they had to ask for discretion, arrange to have everything delivered to the Sunlight Entertainment building, pay the extra delivery fee along with a generous tip for each of the store employees, and make sure no one screamed about Mira and Zoey from Huntr/x being there by agreeing to a few pictures and autographs.
And finally, they could go home.
Or at least, that's what they thought.
They hadn't made it very far when a group of young people walked past them in the opposite direction, talking rather loudly between laughs. Mira wouldn't have paid any attention if it hadn't been for one particular word.
"I'm telling you, it was that stall," one of them was saying. "The one with the weird old lady in the alley."
Zoey slowed down ever so slightly.
So did Mira.
"The one that sells those boards?" another one asked.
"Yeah, those. My cousin bought one last year. According to him, it actually worked."
"Sure it did," a girl mocked him. "What, did a demon show up in his living room too?"
"Nothing showed up, idiot. But he said the piece moved on its own and answered things no one had said."
Zoey slowly turned her head toward Mira.
Mira pretended not to notice.
"Someone was obviously moving it," another one of them continued.
"That's what I told him. But the weird part was the symbols. He looked some of them up afterward and said they weren't made up. They were ancient or something. And my cousin said that after he finished playing, all kinds of weird things started happening to him. He freaked out and ended up breaking the board and throwing it in the trash."
Mira stopped walking.
Zoey took another two steps before realizing Mira's hand was no longer beside hers.
"Mimi?"
Mira didn't answer.
Symbols.
In her mind, she saw the board on the woman's table again. The irregular lines carved around its edges, the shapes she'd dismissed at the time as nothing more than old-fashioned decorations and that, even then, had seemed uncomfortably familiar.
Not because she could read them.
Because she'd seen them before.
"Wait..." she murmured.
Zoey walked back to her.
"What is it?"
Mira frowned, trying to piece together the memory.
Celine's private library.
The hunters' codices.
She had spent entire hours going through them years ago—records so ancient that several of their pages didn't even use modern writing systems, filled with symbols, diagrams, and annotations that had required later translations in order to be interpreted.
And some of those markings...
"The symbols on the board," she finally said.
Zoey blinked.
"What about them?"
"I've seen some of them before."
Zoey's smile slowly disappeared.
"Where?"
It took Mira a few seconds to answer.
"In the hunters' codices Celine keeps."
Now it was Zoey's turn to go completely still.
"The ones in the library?"
Mira nodded slowly.
"I didn't recognize them at first because they don't belong to any modern writing system. I thought they just looked similar, but..."
She glanced back, though from where they stood, they could no longer see the entrance to the alley.
"I'm almost sure there were at least two identical symbols."
Zoey remained silent for a few seconds.
"So... the woman wasn't making everything up?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you just said—"
"I said I recognized the symbols."
"From hunters' codices."
"Yes."
"About demons."
Mira pressed her lips together.
Zoey raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Mimi."
"No."
"I haven't even said anything."
"You want to go back."
"So do you."
"I don't want to go back."
Zoey stared at her in silence.
Mira held her gaze for a few seconds before sighing.
"I want to know where she got that board."
A smile slowly began to spread across Zoey's face.
"That means going back."
"It means asking a question."
"And just looking at the board again."
"Just looking."
"Of course."
Mira narrowed her eyes.
"We're not buying it."
"I never said we were going to buy it."
"Zoey."
"Mimi."
They stared at each other for a couple of seconds.
Then Zoey broke into a full smile and held out her hand.
"We're just investigating."
Mira looked at her hand, then at the road home, and finally in the direction they'd just come from.
She knew perfectly well that it was a bad idea.
She also knew she wasn't about to ignore the possibility that someone was selling objects connected to ancient hunters' records in the middle of an improvised Halloween market.
She finally took Zoey's hand.
"Five minutes."
"Five minutes," Zoey repeated far too easily.
And they started walking back.
Neither of them mentioned that five minutes earlier, they'd been completely determined never to go anywhere near that stall again.
When they got there, the woman recognized them immediately.
"I see you came back." The woman smiled.
Once they were close enough, Mira leaned over to examine the board, confirming that at least two or three of the symbols matched those in the ancient codices Celine kept.
"Where did you get the board?" Mira didn't even bother saying hello.
"Does it matter?" The woman smiled again. "What matters is that it works."
"Where did you get it?" Mira repeated, her tone sharper this time.
"That information is only for customers who are actually going to buy it," the woman shot back.
Zoey watched Mira clench her fists. She knew her well enough to tell that Mira was internally debating whether buying the thing was worth it just to get an answer.
"Let's go, Zo."
Mira turned around, but before Zoey could follow her, the woman spoke again.
"There are only three of them in the entire world."
"Is that another sales tactic?" Mira grumbled.
"No. I found them in a library that burned down many years ago, in a village that no longer exists near Jeju Island."
Mira and Zoey stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other.
Now that had surprised them.
"Which island?" Zoey repeated.
"Jeju Island. There used to be a village nearby. It disappeared after burning down many years ago. I only found three of these, and I've only ever sold one." The woman spoke with a calmness that made both of them uncomfortable. "Think of them as ancient relics if you don't like the idea of calling them demon callers."
Mira and Zoey exchanged another quick glance.
One small nod from Mira was all Zoey needed to convince herself too.
"How much is it?"
The woman told them the price.
The number echoed in both their heads. It wasn't expensive for them, but it was still much more than they'd expected.
"You said there are three and you've only sold one. Where's the third?" Mira went straight to the point.
"Right here," the woman answered cheerfully.
She walked over to a dusty wooden chest and opened it, pulling out another board identical to the one already on display.
"Do you want it? I can give you a discount if you take both, just so I can finally sell them. People think they're too expensive, which is why no one's bought them in all the years I've been trying to get rid of them," she complained.
Mira simply shook her head.
"That's fine. We don't need the discount." Zoey stepped closer.
"Really?" The woman suddenly looked excited.
"Just give them to her," Mira grumbled again.
Zoey paid with the cash she had in her bag, and the woman handed them both boards inside a black bag.
"One more thing before you go," she said.
They both looked at her.
The woman began rummaging through her belongings and pulled out a Huntr/x poster—the newest one that had been released.
Mira and Zoey stared at it, stunned.
"Could you sign this? It's for my granddaughter."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mira replied, already preparing to leave.
"Dark sunglasses and a face mask don't make you unrecognizable. Besides, is that how you treat your fans? Mira? Zoey?"
They both swallowed.
"You have a particular personality in person" the woman added, looking at Mira. "I thought you'd be nicer."
"Mira IS nice," Zoey said with a nervous smile. "It's just that holidays like this make her a little... you know, nervous."
"I can tell."
Mira only grumbled indignantly, but if the woman had already recognized them and was a fan, there wasn't much she could say.
They loved their fans, no matter how strange or demon-worshipping they happened to be.
They both pulled out the pens they always kept on hand. In the end, she was a fan, and that immediately made them lower their guard. They stepped closer to sign the poster and leave a short message for the woman's granddaughter.
When they were done, Zoey smiled at her from behind her face mask.
"Please tell your granddaughter thank you for supporting us," she said sincerely.
"We're having an autograph signing next week if she'd like to come." Mira's voice had softened completely, taking on the same gentle tone she always used with their fans. "Thank you for supporting us."
The woman nodded as she put the poster away.
"And your friend? The purple one?"
"Rumi's in a meeting taking care of a few things, but the message is from all three of us."
Zoey nodded.
"Well, thank you for everything." the woman said one last time as she watched them turn to leave.
"You're welcome!" Zoey turned back toward the stall to give the woman one last smile.
But the color immediately drained from her face.
"What happened?" Mira turned in the same direction as Zoey, only to realize that the stall was gone.
"What...?"
"That's weird. It was right there two seconds ago..."
They both looked down.
The black bag containing the two boards was still there, but now there was no trace of the stall—or the woman who had definitely been standing there only a couple of seconds ago.
They decided not to think too much about it. After all, everything had been strange from the very beginning. Maybe it had all been some kind of trick merchants used to sell things at a higher price once they realized they were dealing with celebrities. Or maybe there really had been something strange about that woman.
Either way, they decided not to dwell on it.
After that, they finally turned around and headed home.
It didn't take them long to get there. A familiar route always seemed shorter, so when they finally reached their floor and were able to take off everything they'd been wearing, the relief was almost immediate.
"Couch?"
"Couch."
"Couch! Couch! Couch! Couch!" they both cheered before throwing themselves onto it.
"I can't believe we actually bought those things."
"They have to be at least somewhat real if they have symbols from the ancient codices."
"Yeah, but it's weird, isn't it? That those symbols, even if there are only a few of them, exist somewhere outside Celine's records."
"It could even be a coincidence. I don't know. The whole thing was really weird, and then she just disappeared like it was nothing."
"Yeah..."
"I don't think that thing actually works."
"There's only one way to find out."
Mira rolled her eyes, but then a mischievous smile tugged at her lips.
"You know what I do want to try?"
"Huh?"
Mira didn't waste another second before moving closer to Zoey, who immediately understood exactly what she meant.
Their lips met in a deep kiss, slow at first before gradually growing more intense. Mira climbed on top of Zoey, who welcomed her eagerly until they were completely tangled together, lying across the couch.
"Mmmh... are we doing this?" Zoey purred.
"What do you think?" Mira replied, making Zoey giggle before pulling her into an even deeper kiss.
Their hands began wandering over each other's bodies, finding all the places they knew could draw out a sigh with almost no effort. They became increasingly tangled together until their clothes started getting in the way.
Mira was the first to sit up just enough to let Zoey pull her shirt off, leaving her in her bra.
Even more worked up than before, they were just about to finish taking each other's clothes off when something suddenly stopped them dead in their tracks.
Ding dong.
The buzzer to their floor rang, completely breaking their concentration.
"Maybe it's nothing important." Mira leaned down to kiss her girlfriend again, completely ignoring the sound.
"What if it's the candy?"
"It's way too soon."
Zoey giggled again and pulled Mira back toward her for another kiss, her hands already reaching for the clasp of Mira's bra.
Then the buzzer rang again.
"If we ignore it..."
Again.
"Maybe they'll stop."
Again.
"It can't be anything serious, right?"
Again.
"...I'll get it."
They both sighed and finally sat up. Mira picked up the clothes scattered across the floor and got dressed again with a frustrated sigh before heading toward the intercom, which still wouldn't stop ringing, while Zoey put her own clothes back on.
Sure enough, it was the candy.
The receptionist had called to let them know that an enormous amount of it had arrived, and while Mira took care of coordinating who would hand it out and how much each person should receive at reception, Zoey had found the bag with the boards.
Apparently, setting everything up had turned out to be entertaining enough to keep her busy while Mira finished talking to the receptionist and eventually decided to head downstairs for a few minutes to check on everything herself.
"Zoey, I think it might be a good idea to go downstairs and hand out candy for a while once Rumi gets back and the show we filmed yesterday finishes airing. It'd be nice to see the fans when we give them—oh."
Mira stared at the living room.
While she'd been downstairs organizing the candy and figuring out how much the staff should hand out to each person, Zoey had apparently transformed their living room into some kind of meeting room for a satanic cult.
"Zo, I was gone for ten minutes. How did you do all of this by yourself...?"
The room was completely dark. Heavy black curtains covered the windows, a black rug had been laid over the one they already owned, and in the middle of it all was what appeared to be a pentagram painted in red, with black candles placed at each point.
"I'm pretty sure we didn't have any of this in the attic," Mira cleared her throat.
"Oh! It came with the package. I was surprised it came with absolutely everything. Look! Read the instructions."
The maknae stood up and handed her a sheet of paper. Mira immediately read it carefully before turning her attention to the symbols on the board that had caught her eye.
They looked like some kind of drawings that combined symbols from the writing Mira remembered seeing in the codices with several geometric shapes.
"This is weird." She shook her head. "Zo, I'm sure none of this was in the bag when that woman gave it to us," she said, referring to everything Zoey had already set up around the living room. "And those symbols are from Celine's codices, except they're mixed with these weird shapes."
"I thought the bag only had the boards too, but when I took them out, all of this was at the bottom. It was weird, but she must've packed everything without us noticing."
Mira gave her a skeptical look but ultimately decided to let it go, and Zoey continued.
"And I remember the symbols too, but they didn't have those shapes around them. It looks like they mixed the symbols with those shapes they use in horror movies when people are doing summoning rituals."
"You mean when they summon demons?"
Zoey nodded enthusiastically.
"Well, I'm pretty sure those are a different kind of demon, Zo. Not the demons we used to fight. Besides, those ones are fictional."
"Do you think they'd be that different? You know, the demons from horror movies and the ones we used to fight?"
"I don't know. I don't even know if the horror movie kind exists, but if we managed to take down Gwi-Ma, then they can't possibly be that terrifying."
"Do you think this actually works?"
Mira sighed.
"I don't think so. Besides, it's been over a year since we sealed the Honmoon. There aren't any demons here anymore."
"We've got nothing to lose by trying," the younger girl said excitedly.
"You really want to do this?"
Zoey nodded.
Mira looked at everything that was already set up and finally gave in with another sigh. After all, the worst thing that could happen was nothing, and if Zoey had already gone through the trouble of setting everything up, there was no harm in trying.
She sat down beside her, and Zoey handed her one of the sheets that had come with the boards.
"It says we have to light the candles."
Mira crawled toward the couch, too lazy to actually stand up and apparently tempting enough for Zoey to give her a playful smack on the ass as she went.
Mira only smirked at her before reaching for her bag and rummaging through it until she found a lighter she always kept there for emergencies—and for the occasional cigarette, even though Rumi and Zoey always gave her a hard time about it. Then again, all three of them had their occasional habits of that sort when they were at home, far away from the squeaky-clean, almost chaste public image they had to maintain.
"Found it."
Still on all fours, she made her way back toward the candles and began lighting them one by one.
"It says we're supposed to pour this in the center next." Zoey handed Mira a bottle filled with a thick liquid somewhere between black and red.
Mira opened it, and a rancid, stale, unpleasant smell immediately poured out. They both covered their noses and grimaced in disgust.
"Zoey, this reeks."
Zoey nodded.
They both gagged, but Mira ultimately poured the liquid exactly where the instructions told her to.
"Now we have to burn it."
"This?"
"Yeah, that's what it says."
Mira rolled her eyes, already losing interest in continuing, but as usual, she ended up giving in to whatever Zoey wanted.
She picked up her lighter again and held the flame over the liquid in the center, expecting anything except for the foul-smelling substance to suddenly ignite in a purple-and-red glow identical to the one demons produced whenever they teleported.
A shiver ran down both their spines.
Still, they tried to remain calm. After all, they'd already decided the thing didn't work, and besides, there was no possible way for them to summon a demon. They were all sealed away.
It wasn't like Gwi-Ma was suddenly going to appear right in front of them.
On the bright side, at least the awful smell had disappeared once the liquid burned.
"And finally, it says we have to read this..."
Mira returned to her place beside Zoey.
"What is it?"
"Looks like some kind of prayer, but it's in another language. Look."
They both examined the paper. Although it took them a moment to recognize the writing, they eventually figured out that it was written in Latin.
"Can you read this?"
"I took Spanish classes in high school." Zoey looked at her. "When I lived in Burbank, they offered Spanish or French, but since there were more Spanish-speaking people in California in general than French-speaking people, I chose Spanish. I took it for two whole years, although French is pretty similar," Zoey explained excitedly.
That brought a smile to Mira's face. She loved it whenever Zoey happily rambled like this.
"So?"
"Spanish comes from Latin," she continued with the same excitement. "It shouldn't be that hard to read."
"Wait. Are you telling me you actually know Spanish?"
"Yeah, duh. I took it for a whole two years."
"So you can actually speak it fluently?"
"Not as fluently as I'd like anymore. I was fluent but I didn't practice it much after Celine found me, but yeah, I think I can."
"Why did you never tell us?"
"You never asked." Zoey looked slightly embarrassed. "Besides, it's not a language we've ever really needed to use. We've never toured Latin America, even though I'd love to."
"Yeah, we could suggest adding Latin America to our next tour. I've heard the audiences there are really nice, and they're always leaving sweet comments on everything we post."
"Yes! That would be amazing!" Zoey squealed excitedly. "I'm sure Rumi would love the idea!"
They both smiled and, almost as though they'd had the exact same thought, looked at the time on the phone.
"What time is Rums coming back?"
"I don't know, but she shouldn't be too long. Maybe an hour or two."
"Good. We should have the living room ready for movie night by the time she gets here. We'll open one of Rumi's favorite wines, and I brought some of the candy they're handing out downstairs... Oh, and we can't forget to go down for at least an hour and hand out candy ourselves to whoever shows up while we're there."
"Yes!" Zoey nodded enthusiastically before turning her attention back to the paper.
"Do you seriously understand that?"
"Kind of. Some of it. It's similar to Spanish and French."
"But didn't you say you only took Spanish?"
"Well... I didn't have many friends in Burbank. None who wanted to spend their free periods or breaks with me, so I started sitting in on extra classes whenever I had free time in high school and wasn't doing homework or writing songs, so... I guess I ended up learning a couple more languages."
"A couple...? Zoey, how many languages can you speak?" This time, Mira couldn't hide her surprise.
"Uh... Korean?"
"Well, that's obvious." Mira rolled her eyes without losing her smile. "Korean and English. Rums and I thought those were the only two you spoke."
"Well, English was my first language." Zoey smiled. "Or was it Korean? As far back as I can remember, my dad always spoke to me in English and my mom always spoke to me in Korean, so I grew up speaking both. But if I remember correctly, my mom told me my first word was in English... and everyone at elementary school and high school spoke English, but I still only spoke Korean with my mom."
"So you basically learned both languages at the same time."
"Yeah." Zoey nodded. "Then I learned Spanish, and during the time I was taking Spanish, I started sitting in on French classes whenever I had free time."
"Two years."
Zoey nodded again.
"And my French teacher recommended me to the Italian teacher... Then my dad got obsessed when some Germans started working at his company, so he enrolled me in German classes after school. But my mom never agreed with that. She wanted me to learn Chinese, so there was a period when I'd leave high school, go straight to two hours of German, and then do another two hours of Chinese."
"And you actually learned them well...?"
Zoey nodded.
"Although I think I only know the basics when it comes to Chinese. It's a really complicated language."
Mira had to agree.
"So English, Korean, Spanish, French, Italian, German... and Chinese?"
"And Japanese."
"Japanese!?" Mira's eyes widened. "When the hell did that happen?"
"Duolingo."
Zoey smiled proudly as she showed Mira the app on her phone, where, surprisingly enough, she already had several advanced-level achievements in the language.
"Zoey, why did you never tell us any of this? I thought the three of us promised there wouldn't be any more secrets between us." Mira sounded both surprised and a little hurt.
"I didn't mean to keep it a secret!" Zoey gestured anxiously with her hands. "I really didn't. Actually, I thought you guys already knew."
"How were we supposed to know?" Mira frowned slightly, still looking a little hurt.
"Uh, on all our tours through Europe, Asia, and America, I'm always the one who talks onstage or to the fans. I just assumed you guys already knew I spoke those languages," Zoey said, looking at Mira with worried eyes while simultaneously giving her that look she knew always made her melt.
"You're right... but Rumi and I always thought you were just memorizing the speeches they gave us before every show in whatever language they spoke in the country we were visiting," she admitted.
"Uh, no, unnie. Half the time, those speeches weren't even written properly." Zoey giggled. "But since you guys always let me do the talking, I assumed you'd figured it out and decided it was better to let me handle it. I genuinely thought you knew I could speak those languages."
"Oh."
Mira would never admit it out loud, but she felt pretty stupid right then for never having realized it before. Especially considering all those times she and Rumi had gotten hopelessly tangled up while practicing their speeches, only for Zoey to casually tell them that she could speak it and that she'd handle it. Though, once again, they'd always assumed she meant she'd managed to memorize the speech properly—not that she was literally telling them she could speak the language. At the same time, she was incredibly relieved that they'd spent all those previous tours letting Zoey do the talking while she and Rumi simply repeated whatever individual words they'd been made to memorize in each language—'hello,' 'goodbye,' 'we love you,' 'thank you'—along with whatever other words or phrases Zoey told them to repeat, most of which Mira had honestly forgotten by now.
Ever since their first international tour, Mira and Rumi had simply assumed Zoey had an absurd talent for memorizing whatever speeches their team prepared for them. After she'd saved them during their first concert in the United States, when both of them had forgotten practically all the English they'd rehearsed, they'd simply started letting her take the lead whenever they were abroad.
They hadn't made the same mistake again, of course. Mira and Rumi had gotten much better at memorizing whatever they were given, which ultimately amounted to a handful of basic phrases and individual words—even if they forgot them again a couple of days later—but it had never once occurred to either of them that Zoey was actually fluent in all those languages.
Honestly, the only English Mira could remember at that moment consisted of a few scattered phrases: 'Hello,' 'goodnight,' 'We love you,' and 'Thanks for your... spot, sport, support,' or something like that. That was pretty much it. And if there was one thing she could be certain of, it was that Rumi's list of remembered phrases in foreign languages was either exactly as short as hers or somehow even shorter.
Honestly, she and Rumi could remember everything they sang in English perfectly well. Unlike when they'd first started out, K-pop had become increasingly international over the years, and somewhere along the way, their songs had gone from being almost entirely in Korean to mixing Korean and English—and lately, some of them had been almost entirely in English. Somehow, both Mira and Rumi could handle that just fine. They could memorize the lyrics, pronounce every word perfectly, sing them without a second thought, and know exactly what every line meant.
Golden was the clearest example of that, along with How It's Done and the most personal song they'd released a little over a year ago, What It Sounds Like. Despite being entirely in English, that song had somehow managed to put into words exactly what had been in all three of their hearts at the time. And although they'd released several new songs since then—songs that sometimes indirectly hinted at the love they'd found in each other without ever making it too obvious—What It Sounds Like remained the song that had brought them back together and made the bond between them feel unbreakable.
And now, Mira could admit that, while all their songs were good—without bragging, of course—she liked what their music had become even more.
The transition had been gradual. They'd gone from singing songs about hunting and destroying demons to writing about who they actually were underneath everything else, without masks or expectations getting in the way. Their newer songs were deeper and more personal. Some were about ordinary, sometimes ridiculous parts of their lives; others were fun simply because they'd wanted them to be. And then there were the slightly more shameless ones—never obvious enough to outright announce anything, but filled with little lines about loving someone completely, wanting to spend the rest of your life by their side, and finding a bond that had only grown stronger after everything they'd survived together.
They knew what those songs were really about.
Their fans didn't.
Probably.
And Mira was perfectly happy keeping it that way.
Not that anyone else needed to know those songs were really about the romantic love the three of them had found in each other, the bond they'd built together, and their very real, very mutual desire to spend the rest of their lives by each other's side. To everyone else, they could simply be love songs, ambiguous enough for anyone to relate to. Only the three of them knew exactly who those songs had really been written for.
And if Mira had any say in it, someday even those songs wouldn't be enough to express just how far she wanted to take what they had. She wanted the rest of her life with them. Hell, she wanted to marry them someday. Both of them.
Preferably before Zoey accidentally spoiled that particular secret in an interview.
Their older songs would always be the classics, of course, but their fans had embraced this new era of HUNTR/X more enthusiastically than any of them had expected. Mira could even argue that some of their newer releases were becoming more beloved than their old ones.
None of them had surpassed Golden, though.
Not one of their newer songs. Not a song from another group. Nothing.
And yes, all three of them carried a quiet—though probably not nearly as subtle as they liked to believe—sense of pride about that.
None of that, however, meant Mira or Rumi could actually speak English outside of their songs.
Did they need to learn?
Absolutely.
But that sounded like a problem for another day.
And now, she felt stupid for not having noticed sooner, but at least she'd discovered something new about her girl. And honestly, there was something about the way Zoey effortlessly switched between languages that Mira absolutely loved.
She knew Rumi would love it too.
"Okay, okay. Sorry I never figured it out before. But at least now I get to annoy Rumi because I know something about you that she doesn't."
"Mira!" Zoey tried to look serious, but ended up laughing anyway. "You're going to tell her what it is eventually."
"Yeah, but at least I can mess with her for a little while first." Mira giggled. "Speaking of which, we should finish this before Rumi gets home so we can clean everything up and get the living room ready for movie night."
"Yes!"
They sat back down beside each other and held the paper between them. Zoey began reading it, albeit slowly since it was a language she didn't actually know. To Mira's ears, though, her pronunciation sounded flawless, so she simply repeated whatever Zoey said—or at least did her best to make it sound as close as possible.
It was some kind of short prayer, but speaking it in another language made the whole thing considerably more complicated.
Once they finished reciting the final sentence, they both turned expectantly toward the pentagram in front of them.
Only to realize that absolutely nothing had happened.
"I told you it wasn't real. She was just some vendor who would say or do anything to sell her stuff." Mira sighed in defeat, even though, deep down, she'd been hoping something would happen.
"But we did everything right! Something was supposed to happen, at least!"
"Nothing can happen if it's just a game. It's like those things people play on nights like this. They freak themselves out and get scared even when nothing's actually happening."
"Mmm... what if we read it wrong?"
"I don't think that's it."
"But what if we read it too slowly, or—"
"Zo... let's just clean this up. We need to get everything ready for when Rumi gets home."
"You're right." Zoey let herself fall backward. "That woman scammed us."
"Yeah... but hey, look on the bright side. At least we got the candy," Mira said, trying to cheer her up.
"You're right." Zoey smiled. "At least we'll make our fans happy!"
"Yeah. Now let's clean this up before Rumi—"
Mira never finished the sentence.
At that exact moment, a cloud of red smoke streaked with purple suddenly erupted in the center of the room—more precisely, right in the middle of the pentagram—drawing a startled shriek from both of them.
Instinct, panic, and sheer surprise took over.
Their weapons materialized in their hands without a second thought.
In a fraction of a second, Mira had her gok-do aimed directly at the cloud while Zoey pointed her shin-kal toward it, their reflexes sharpened by all the training they'd gone through since Celine had recruited them.
That did absolutely nothing to ease the panic brought on by whatever the hell was happening in their living room.
"What is happening!?"
The painfully familiar voice sent a shiver down both their spines.
Neither of them could tell whether it came from relief or an entirely new wave of shock as they stared, dumbfounded, at the person emerging from the cloud.
"Rumi!?" they exclaimed in unison.
"Mira? Zoey? What is happening?" Rumi asked, a hint of hurt creeping into her voice.
That was when Mira and Zoey realized they were still pointing their weapons directly at Rumi.
They lowered them immediately, both suddenly embarrassed as an old, painful memory flashed through their minds—the night they'd pointed those same weapons at Rumi after discovering her demonic nature.
It was something they'd talked through and forgiven each other for countless times, until there was nothing left of it but a bitter memory they'd long since put behind them.
"Sorry, Rums. You just... scared us, showing up out of nowhere like that," Mira said as she and Zoey returned their weapons to the Honmoon.
"Sorry." Rumi gave them a slightly embarrassed smile. "It's just... I don't know. All of a sudden, I felt this overwhelming need to see you two... and I don't know why." She frowned. "It was like something inside my head was screaming at me to come here right now."
Mira and Zoey stared at her in confusion.
"Must be the stress," Rumi added with a small, apologetic smile. "I've been stuck in there with them all day, and they can't agree on anything. Honestly, I'm fed up. Maybe that's what it was."
"Maybe," Zoey said with a smile. "Do you have much longer before you come home?... I mean, officially?"
"I'm hoping that torture will be over in an hour." Rumi looked up at the ceiling. "I just want to come home, take a shower, curl up on the couch with you two, watch movies, and eat snacks." Her smile brightened at the thought.
She took a step without really paying attention to where she was standing, until her foot brushed against something that definitely hadn't been there when she'd left that morning.
Only then did she seem to become aware of her surroundings.
"Uh... girls, what exactly are you doing?" she asked, looking around at the darkened living room, the black rug, and the pentagram beneath her feet.
"Uh... long story," the youngest admitted. "We'll explain everything properly when you get back from the meeting."
"But seriously... what are you supposed to be doing?"
"Uh... something like a satanic ritual?" Mira said before briefly explaining everything they'd gone through that afternoon.
Rumi kept a completely straight face throughout the entire story.
And when Mira finished, she maintained that expression for exactly long enough to make both of them start looking at her with concern.
Then she burst out laughing.
"I can't believe you actually fell for that," Rumi managed between laughs. "Those things don't work. That woman scammed you."
Mira and Zoey stared at her, embarrassed.
"Yeah, you're right, Rums. I don't even know why we tried it," Mira admitted, still looking slightly ashamed.
"At least you made my afternoon better after I've been stuck over there all day." Rumi smiled. "I can't wait to come home... uh, officially."
"How did you get out of the meeting without anyone noticing?" Zoey asked curiously.
"I said I was going to the bathroom, locked the door, and teleported here as soon as I started feeling that urge to come see you." Rumi frowned slightly. "Although now that I think about it, that was kind of weird."
"Maybe it's just the stress, Ru."
"Yeah, I think so." Rumi nodded. "I have to go back." She sighed. "I really don't want to, but I can't lock myself in the bathroom for more than ten minutes without someone coming to look for me."
"Don't worry. We'll have everything ready when you get back."
"Thanks." She smiled. "I'll go back now and try to get this over with as soon as possible."
Mira and Zoey approached her.
"We'll be waiting for you, baby." Mira cupped Rumi's face in both hands and planted a short kiss on her lips, making Rumi smile stupidly. Zoey followed right after, rising onto her tiptoes to kiss her too, making Rumi's smile grow even wider.
"I'm going now. Clean all this up, and don't have too much fun without me." She winked at them. "I'll be back in an hour."
"Yes, boss," Mira teased.
"Hope the torture ends soon, Rums," Zoey said encouragingly.
Rumi gave them one last smile before disappearing into the same cloud of smoke she'd arrived in.
Once they were alone again, Mira and Zoey looked at each other.
"Told you that thing doesn't work, Zo. It's just one of those games people use to freak themselves out on nights like this." Mira sat back down on the floor beside the pentagram.
"You're right. Maybe it's like one of those cheap things they used in movies like The Ring."
"That's a classic. And yeah, maybe this is just an overpriced imitation of something like that."
"Although... do you think I pronounced it right?"
"Zo..."
"I'm not asking because I think it works or anything!" Zoey clarified. "I'm just curious."
"You're the one who knows how to read that. I don't even know how those letters are supposed to be pronounced, so I can't tell you whether you said it right or not. I was just following you."
Now it was Zoey's turn to roll her eyes, though her smile remained.
"It's not that hard. Listen."
Zoey began reading again, this time a little faster than before, though she still took care to pronounce everything correctly.
Mira listened closely. Even though she'd already dismissed the possibility of the game actually working, there was something about hearing Zoey speak another language that always made Mira want to give her every ounce of her attention. Maybe it was strange, but somehow it only made Zoey even more attractive to her.
"You definitely have a talent for foreign languages, Zo," she said when Zoey finished reading.
"Nah, just years of practice." Zoey laughed.
They both got up after that, finally ready to start cleaning everything away—
When another cloud of smoke suddenly appeared right in the middle of the pentagram, startling them both.
"Rumi?" they asked in unison as the girl appeared in front of them once again.
"Uh... hi. I think I... forgot my phone?" Rumi smiled sheepishly.
"No, Rums," Zoey said, glancing around. "You didn't even take it out when you were here the first time."
"That's weird..." Rumi searched through her pockets. "I felt like I'd forgotten something. I got that same urge to come back here, and I thought I'd left—oh."
She stopped mid-sentence.
Instead, she pulled her phone out of one of her pockets, making both girls laugh.
"Oh... my bad." She gave them a small, embarrassed smile. "That was weird... Anyway, I'll go back. And seriously, you should clean all this up."
She glanced around at everything, which looked exactly the same as it had the first time she'd teleported there.
"We've got it, baby." Mira smiled at her. "Now go, get that over with, and come home. We'll have everything ready when you get back."
She winked.
Rumi's smile only widened. She nodded, blew them both a kiss, and disappeared once again into the curtain of red smoke.
"We should clean up, Zoomie," Mira said, getting to her feet again, this time actually intending to put everything away.
Zoey nodded enthusiastically, though she decided to give the prayer one last read, just so she wouldn't "lose her touch," as she'd put it.
She read it faster this time, and Mira could only marvel at how effortless Zoey made it look. Her girl definitely had a gift for that kind of thing, so Mira simply listened with a lovestruck smile until Zoey finished.
"Done! Now let's clean this up," the maknae announced enthusiastically.
They were just about to pick up the first candle to blow it out when, once again, the same cloud of smoke startled them.
"Okay, seriously, girls, this is weird. I'm not forgetting anything, am I?" Rumi asked, waving away what remained of the red smoke with one hand. "I really feel like I need to come back here for something."
Both of them stared at her.
"No, Ru." Mira shook her head again. "Nothing you brought with you was left here."
"That's so weird..." Rumi touched her temple. "The stress is definitely getting to me." She sighed.
"Don't worry, baby." Zoey walked over and planted another kiss on her lips. "Go finish up over there, and when you get back, we'll call Bobby and get him to give us at least a week off after all this so we can relax and forget about everything for a while."
"Sounds good." Rumi smiled and pulled Zoey back toward her, this time taking the initiative and kissing her again.
Then she held out a hand toward Mira.
Mira didn't hesitate. She stepped closer, took Rumi by the back of the neck, and pulled her into another kiss.
"I love you," Rumi sighed between alternating kisses from her two girlfriends.
"And we love you too, Rums," Zoey replied, since Mira currently had her lips occupied with Rumi's.
The maknae didn't waste the opportunity. She reached for Rumi's braid and gave it a light but firm tug, right at the spot she knew made Rumi's knees go weak, drawing an involuntary moan from her against Mira's mouth.
"Save that for later," Mira murmured against her lips when they finally pulled apart.
"Yeah..." Rumi breathed, catching her breath, that same stupid little smile still on her face.
"Go on, tiger. We'll be waiting for you."
Rumi rolled her eyes at the nickname they'd both given her when they'd started dating a little over a year ago, a playful reference to her patterns.
Though, if she was being honest, she liked it.
It made her feel—and reminded her—that Mira and Zoey accepted, and loved, every part of her, including her demonic side. She had never taken the nickname as an insult. Instead, it had become a reminder of something Mira and Zoey had made perfectly clear a long time ago:
She was perfect to them, even with all the things she'd once considered flaws.
"I'll be back soon. And clean this up already!" Rumi complained. "It's blocking the walkway and covering the view from the windows. Besides, this whole thing is fantasy. It doesn't actually work, and all the demons are sealed away anyway. Even if it were real, there's no way you could summon one."
"We will, unnie!"
And with that and one last smile, Rumi disappeared into the cloud of red smoke that had already become so familiar to them.
Mira and Zoey looked at each other the second Rumi disappeared.
Then they both giggled, sharing the exact same thought.
They'd been scammed.
That, however, would remain a secret between the two of them. After all, they couldn't let their fans find out that HUNTR/X had been scammed by an old woman.
Absolutely not.
Mira walked over and planted a kiss on Zoey's lips, making her laugh. After that, they both finally got up and began cleaning everything away without any more interruptions, getting the living room ready for what was supposed to be a night of movies, snacks, and wine after they'd spent some time downstairs personally handing out candy to their fans.
Although, if there was one thing they both knew, it was that there was a very good chance they'd eventually end up tangled together on the couch, naked, doing anything but watching the movies they'd picked out for the night.
"Zoomie?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Mimi."
"Zo?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"I want to strap Rumi so fucking hard tonight, until she can't scream anymore."
"COUNT ME IN!" Zoey squealed excitedly.
And when they finally finished cleaning up, the boards and everything else they'd bought from that strange little stand ended up broken into pieces inside the same black bag.
Only this time, the bag was in the trash.