Archive of Our Own

Celine knew from the moment the girls called her, there was something wrong.

(“Celine, you better come here quick,” Rumi’s voice rang breathless and frantic, and Celine could tell there was immense worry coated in them.

“Rumi?” The concern in her voice bled out. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She heard heavy breathing and background voices, but she couldn’t discern what they were talking about. But there was noise there that she couldn’t possibly ignore.

“I don’t know how to say this without sounding insane,” Rumi began, and suddenly Celine’s distress skyrocketed. There was an edge to Rumi’s voice—like she was in disbelief or she had finished crying about something. “But you need to come here immediately.”

Her adoptive daughter releases a quiet sigh—one that she recognized the moment she heard it.

Another ragged breath, her voice dropped, “We don’t know who else to call.”

Trying to be strong for her girl, she breathed out, steady, “Wait for me. I’ll call Bobby to prepare the jet.”)

She messages some of the girls’ producers on the way to their penthouse, telling them that their recording sessions and editing of their next mini-album are to be done on a later date. She contacts Bobby next, asking him to move all related activities to the next few days and all interviews to be rescheduled some other time. 

Dread fills her as she looks at the elevator number going up and up each second, the tapping of her foot relentless. She steadies her breathing as the worst-case scenario comes rushing to her head: What if Zoey got hurt? Did Mira cut herself while fighting demons again? Did Rumi get bitten by a demon? What if the three of them got numerous injuries while dealing with a murder of demons?

She is brought out of her thoughts when the ding of the elevator resounded within the space. Celine inhales a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for whatever this problem brings.

The elevator doors open, and Celine braces herself as she walks out.

And everything seems normal in the living room area.

Okay, this is fine so far, she thinks. 

She walks over to their excessively large couch, her fingertips twitching in both anticipation and fear. Celine finds Rumi pacing back and forth relentlessly, Mira sitting down on the couch, her elbow plopped on her lap, one hand buried in her hair, and Zoey trying to calm Rumi down.

Zoey spots Celine first, offering her a relieved and worried smile.

“Rumi,” she tugs on Rumi’s sleeve and points at her. “Celine’s here.”

Mira turns around and stands up to greet her but doesn’t move from her position.

Rumi spots Celine and the latter cannot help the worry that fills as she takes in the sight of her: one of her eyes is golden amber, her patterns pulsing bright pink and purple. 

When she sees Celine, she runs to her, engulfing her in a tight embrace. Celine, taken aback from the action, recoils a bit. It takes her a few seconds to adjust before she returns the gesture, hugging Rumi back.

The hug lasts for a few more moments before Rumi lets go.

“Thank you for coming,” Rumi says, her voice tight and grateful. “The three of us didn’t know what to do with this.”

“It’s okay,” Celine replies, smiling slightly at Rumi before she reels in her expression. She looks at them, one by one, giving them nods of approval. “You did the right thing, contacting me when you’re facing something you don’t know how to navigate.”

Mira and Zoey give each other a look—concern etched in them—before directing their gaze towards Rumi, who shares a similar expression as them. Rumi visibly grits her teeth and makes a hissing sound before looking back at Celine. The former idol’s concern now morphs into something akin to curiosity.

“What is it?” Celine asks them.

Zoey and Mira purses their lips, Rumi doing the same. The three of them make eye contact with each other, as if trying to choose who’s supposed to be the one to deliver the news to Celine.

“Actually, we also don’t know if you can navigate this,” Zoey mutters but Celine doesn’t catch it, only looking at Zoey in peculiarity. After that, Rumi and Mira elbow her at the same time, still looking at Celine in tight expressions.

“Rumi, Mira, Zoey,” Celine says their names, with the tone she carried when they were still trainees, both as idols and Hunters. She crosses her arms. “What is it?”

Zoey gives Rumi a signal, pointing to Celine using her head. Mira makes a sound, almost uncomfortable. Rumi shakes her head aggressively. Mira looks at Rumi and points at Celine with her eyes.

Celine releases a sigh of frustration. She brings up a hand to her temples, massaging them rather aggressively.

The elevator door dings and opens behind her but Celine doesn’t look, starting to stress herself as the Hunters avoid her gaze.

There are scattered footsteps behind her but she doesn’t pay it no mind, only staring down the three girls who, infuriatingly, won’t answer her questions.

“If the three of you don’t tell me what’s wrong this second, I’m going to—”

“Your studio is so much bigger than ours, I can’t believe…”

That voice.

Everything is suddenly tuned out—every sound, every small movement, every twitch of a fingertip—her awareness slips away, only locking into that sound behind her.

Instantly, the girls in front of her blur but she catches their nervous and sheepish expressions.

Celine’s mouth snaps shut and her heart nearly stops beating behind her ribcage before it starts pumping at a speed the former hunter can’t fathom. She’s lost control of her feet as she turns around slowly, her heart ringing in her ears, loudly and gripping. Celine feels her breath catch herself—every second drags slowly and moves quickly at the same time.

Celine’s breathing stops and her mouth hangs loosely, agape. She feels tears brimming in her eyes.

Time slows as if it starts ceasing to exist.

Her arms drop to her side, helplessly, as if to surrender as she takes it in.

As she takes the sight of her in.

There, in front of Celine, is Miyeong.

Alive, healthy, and energetic.

Alive.

She feels a soft sigh escape her. She doesn’t know what to do with her hands. She doesn’t know what to do with her feet. She stands there motionlessly, stuck in a trance as she takes her in.

She takes her in. She takes her in.

There are spots of wrinkles on her face, some strands of her hair gray cascading in front of her face. 

That means she got to reach the same age as Celine.

Alive.

Her hair is in a braid—not her usual one. Her hair is shorter and the braid is looser, as if done in a haste by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Alive.

She catches Miyeong smile growing wider by the second but she is unsure whose it for.

It’s still the same smile as when she was still alive.

Alive.

Alive.

Alive.

How—

She doesn’t know who pulls her out of her trance—herself or Miyeong, Miyeong, who immediately hugs her, wrapping her arms around her neck. Celine’s eyes widen, and her breathing immediately unsteadies, waxing and waning as she feels the warmth of Miyeong’s embrace. 

Her arms still hang loosely (and uselessly) at her sides.

She feels Miyeong’s breath in her neck and she almost loses it.

“You’re okay,” she hears Miyeong whisper against her. “Oh, you’re okay and you’re safe.”

Celine swallows a sigh.

She gulps.

Gaining some (keyword: some) of her sanity, she glances at the side, catching the girls looking at her—Mira’s mouth hangs open, mirroring her initial reaction, both of Zoey’s hands covering her mouth. She looks at Rumi—there is a small smile on her lips and tears brimming in her eyes.

Celine turns her head back and Miyeong pulls back, leaving both of her hands on Celine’s shoulder, the weight of it a physical reminder of who’s in front of her.

Miyeong’s smile softens impossibly more and Celine is still glued to where she’s standing. What does she say? What the fuck does she do? What should she do now? Her breathing doesn’t get any better, she figures it even got worse with each passing second. 

She just stares at Miyeong, still taking her in and all thoughts jumped out of the window when she sees the other woman’s face leaning towards her.

She’s sure her breathing stops right there, this instant. Or maybe she started hyperventilating. She doesn’t know—she’s no longer aware of her surroundings, just the woman in front of her whose face is leaning towards her.

Celine feels one of Miyeong’s hands sliding to the back of her neck and the other one on her cheek, Miyeong’s face still growing closer to her own, and her own fucking hands stay still useless on her sides.

Miyeong’s eyes shut tight and before Celine can even mentally prepare at what’s happening, their lips meet in a quiet fervor. 

She hears people gasping. Was it Rumi? Maybe it’s her or it was the girls. Either way, it all happens so fast and her senses betray her.

Celine feels her hands moving now—they find Miyeong’s waist. She doesn’t know if she brings her closer or just holds her there or tries to pry her away from her so she can think. Only she literally can’t think because the lips of the woman she loved the most is on hers so what the fuck is there to think about?

Miyeong is alive and she’s kissing Celine.

She’s kissing Celine.

It’s silent and it’s searching for something, and Celine doesn’t know if she kissed back—only with the jarring reminder that she has never done this with Miyeong before.

She never has kissed Miyeong before.

Because Miyeong never kissed her.

Because Miyeong was never hers.

Because Miyeong died and she never got to tell the truth of everything.

Celine’s eyes open immediately. Finally, finally snapping out of her trance, the hands on Miyeong’s waist pulls her away from her, and Celine feels something inside her break.

Her breathing tightens as she takes in the sight of Miyeong—

No, not Miyeong—this is not Ryu Miyeong. 

This is not Miyeong because Miyeong is dead and Miyeong is buried with their predecessors by the shin-mok and the only time Miyeong is with Celine is when she’s sleeping and she dreams of Miyeong or she appears in her nightmares.

No, this is not Miyeong because Miyeong is gone.

Miyeong is dead.

She takes in whoever this is wearing Miyeong’s face and her heart constricts because how dare this demon wear her friend’s face and wear it with such intense attention to detail that it’s able to match Miyeong’s hurt and pain. 

How dare this demon wear Miyeong’s face and make it as though Miyeong has been there with her and grew up with her by adding wrinkles on her face and gray hairs on her head?

How dare this demon wear Miyeong’s eyes and match the same glint Miyeong did when she was still with them?

How dare this demon torment her with something she’s been hoping and wishing for so long she forgets how to track time anymore?

How dare this fucking demon kiss her and make it feel as if Miyeong’s never left her at all? How did it match her touch? Her smell? Her smile? Her breathing? Her glances? Her breath hitches?

Celine looks at the confused but hurt look on Miyeong—no, not Miyeong—on whoever the fuck this is when Celine pulled her away.

“Celine?” It says, hurt and vulnerable and concerned, and Celine hates the way her heart tightens in her chest when she hears it, its voice sounds exactly like Miyeong. Like it’s actually Miyeong.

No, not Miyeong. That’s not her. Miyeong’s dead. She’s gone.

Her own breathing ceases and everything is suddenly overwhelming. 

It’s so hard to breathe and her eyes start seeing black spots clouding her vision.

Miyeong is the last thing she sees before darkness overtakes her.

When Celine wakes up, she is greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling. She turns to her side and sees a balcony. From where she lays, she spots strings of the new Honmoon glowing around the buildings and houses.

Ah, I’m in Seoul.

She closes her eyes and her breath hitches, remembering the dream she just had—Miyeong, Miyeong, alive. Miyeong who’s alive and kissed her.

She shakes her head. One of her dreams again.

“You’re awake.”

She is startled by the voice and she sits upright almost instantly, putting a hand in her head and groaning in pain at the motion.

She sees Rumi, sitting on the side of the bed, looking at her with concern in her eyes. Celine puts her hand down and sighs in relief.

“Oh, you’re okay,” she breathes out, the words almost twisting themselves in her throat. “I just had a very weird dream,” she chuckles to herself nervously and then she adds, looking around, “Where am I?”

“In my room,” Rumi answers and she puts a hand on the nape of her neck. “And no.”

Celine’s stomach drops.

Rumi looks at her apologetically, “Celine, it wasn’t a dream.”

She shakes her head slowly. She laughs loudly. Rumi looks scared.

Because why wouldn’t it be a dream? The only places Miyeong is alive are either in her memories, her dreams, or her nightmares.

“Rumi,” Celine says after a single chuckle escapes her. “I know the therapist told us to bond by making weird jokes to ease tensions but—”

“Celine,” Rumi’s voice is strong and there’s tension in it but it holds no room for more questions. There’s only conviction.

“It wasn’t a dream,” Rumi says and looks at her pointedly. “She’s real. She’s here. That’s Miyeong. ”

Rumi’s room suddenly grows smaller.

Celine swallows a gulp and she stammers out, “How could she be real? Are you sure she’s not a demon disguised as your mother?”

“No, she’s not,” Rumi sighs. “I checked.”

Celine’s heart stutters and she shakes her head.

“That’s not our Miyeong,” Celine says, her throat dry and despondent and then her voice cracks when she adds, “Miyeong’s dead.”

“You’re right,” Rumi says, sighing once again as she fixes her position, putting her legs up, cross-legged on the bed before looking at Celine again. “She’s not our Miyeong. She’s from somewhere else.”

“What do you mean?” 

Rumi leans back against her bedrest and stares at the ceiling, her fingers clasped together.

“Two days ago when we called you—”

Celine’s eyes widened, “I was out for two days!?”

“Yeah,” Rumi looks at her sheepishly.

“Why didn’t any of you wake me up!?” Celine runs her hands through her hair. Then later, one on her stomach, feeling it rumble almost instantly. 

“You were tired!” Rumi says, extending her arms as if pointing at Celine, and then softly she adds, “The shock really got to you. We didn’t want to disturb you.”

Celine looks at Rumi incredulously and then shakes her head, murmuring two days, what the hell, what about the work I have missed. She waves her off with one hand and then asks her to continue.

“We found a rip in the Honmoon,” Rumi continues, sounding unsure. “Since the new Honmoon was made, rips were rarer now so we were worried this was something very serious because it’s been what? Two years.”

Celine nods, taking note of everything Rumi is saying. A rip in the Honmoon?

“When we arrived at the scene,” Rumi continues to recall. “Usual demons were there and we fought them. There’s truly nothing out of the ordinary going on until more demons appear from out of nowhere,” she stops, trailing off. She looks at Celine and the latter gives her an encouraging nod.

“The three of us got overwhelmed by the amount of demons that were surrounding us and we thought we were finally goners,” the HUNTR/X leader pauses and Celine feels a terrible shiver run through her as she imagines the girls in that predicament.

Rumi sighs, “But then, there’s someone else there.”

Celine gulps.

“The demon in front of me, holding me down, exploded and I saw an arrow on the ground.”

Celine grips the blanket covering her.

“All of a sudden,” Rumi’s eyes widen and sparkle in wonder and amazement. “There were arrows flying out everywhere and almost all of the demons around us vanished.”

Rumi swallows deeply, “When the fog cleared, that’s when we saw her, holding her bow.”

Celine can see it clearly and she remembers some memories so vividly. Her heart constricts in her chest again.

The idol releases a disbelieving laugh and Celine spots tears forming in her eyes.

“She looked so cool, Celine,” Rumi says, wistful but longing. “I never thought I’d see anything like it.”

Celine gives Rumi a single chuckle.

“That’s Miyeong for you,” Celine says and she matches the look in Rumi’s eyes. “Knows how to make an entrance and looks elegant while doing it.”

Silence engulfs the two of them—the weight of everything that just happened staying in between. As much as what happened two days ago feels heavy on her, she’s more concerned on how Rumi sees and feels about the situation.

“How do you feel?” Celine asks quietly.

“Honestly?” There’s something in Rumi’s voice that Celine can’t pinpoint. “I’m mostly confused and really conflicted.”

“How so?”

Rumi breathes out a low groan. Celine sees Rumi’s patterns pulse a darker than usual pink hue, and it lasts longer than a few moments.

“I’ve never met my mother so I never really knew her,” Rumi begins, clearly frustrated and melancholic. “But this is also Miyeong. That’s my mom but at the same time,” Rumi clicks her tongue. “She’s not? I don’t know.”

Rumi runs her hand through her hair, gripping at the ones on her scalp. 

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel,” she says and Celine feels her heart break at the conflict in Rumi’s voice. “I feel happy because I hear her voice and she talks to me? But it’s also so, so weird because I’ve seen my mom’s literal grave and this Miyeong is not her.”

Celine takes a deep breath. She inches closer to Rumi but leaves a small amount of space but it’s Rumi who closes the gap, and leans her head against Celine’s shoulder.

Celine stiffens a bit at the physical contact but relaxes a few seconds later.

“I guess we have something new to talk about in therapy now.”

Celine chuckles at that and Rumi follows suit. The two of them just stay in that position for a while, neither comfortable or uncomfortable with the transpiration that just occurred.

“How do you feel though?” Rumi asks her, concern seeping through. “This must really, really be overwhelming for you.”

Celine takes a pause. How did she feel about all of this? Obviously, not well if she fucking fainted and was knocked out for two days.

But then again, there’s more to it than that: Miyeong, this Miyeong kissed her and the memory burned itself in Celine’s brain (and lips) and she can’t feel anything else.

Celine slumps her head against the headrest.

“Like I’ve seen your mom’s ghost and she slapped me for kissing someone who looks like her.”

Rumi takes that as an answer.

It takes a couple of more hours for Celine to leave Rumi’s room. She isn’t ready to face her. 

She’s honestly much more surprised that Rumi’s able to get out of her room in the first place and have her dead fucking mother (well, not technically dead or her mother even) walk around their place and actually talk to her.

She changes her clothes with some of Mira’s old formal clothes because Zoey said when she delivered them earlier It’s the only one that fits you. 

She sighs as she looks at herself in front of Rumi’s mirror: fluffy pink bunny slippers with ears, light gray sweatpants and a graphic t-shirt from Mira that said I got that dog in me with a picture of a hotdog.

Christ, I look like a millenial. She rubs the space between her eyes and gains the courage to finally walk out of Rumi’s bedroom.

She walks to the hallway and gets to the elevator to the living room area. Her fingers twitching against her sides.

Once she gets to the living room area, she’s surprised that no one was there and then her breath hitches when she hears voices coming from the kitchen.

She stays locked on the position she is standing in and does a couple of breathing exercises.

(Those breathing exercises lasted ten minutes.)

She walks into the kitchen and she sees her: behind the counter washing something, smiling and grinning, wearing a damned purple apron with a bow, as she talks to Rumi, Mira, and Zoey—who are eating lunch on the dining table, all three of them sitting next to each other with Rumi in the middle.

Suddenly, everything is tuned out once more.

Of course, she spots Celine first.

“Hey!” She extends an arm and waves enthusiastically, her grin never faltering.

She’s glued to her spot but Celine gives her a rigid smile and her gaze falls to Rumi, Zoey, and Mira—she’s unsure if they’re attempting not to laugh.

Right, she sighs. Her t-shirt.

“I made lunch,” she says and from the counter, she grabs a black bowl and places it on the part of the table with the empty seat, across the girls’ side. “You’re still technically Celine so you still like beoseot deulkkaetang, right?”

Celine manages a nod, more rigid than her earlier smile and she swears she hears Mira and Zoey snicker. Rumi, too.

“What, you’re just gonna stand there?”

It doesn’t really register to Celine that she’s talking to her until she is in front of her.

“Come on.”

Her breath hitches because this is the first time in two days they were within an arm’s length proximity. She feels her wrist getting grabbed by her (the touch burns, yearning to be inked on her skin) and she just lets it happen until she’s sitting down on the dining table and she’s sitting next to her.

Celine looks up and frowns a little when she catches Zoey, who is across from her, hiding a grin.

“Nice shirt, Celine,” Zoey says as she purses her lips, trying to not let a laugh out but Rumi, from beside her snorts. Mira, from the furthest side, has a lazy smile on and gives her a thumbs up.

“Yeah, Zoey’s right,” she hears from literally right beside her and she freezes up and doesn’t attempt to look at her at all. “I think the shirt is nice. Really cute on you.”

Celine sucks in a breath, her ears warm. 

Faintly, she hears a quiet squeal. She thinks it came from Zoey. She also hears Rumi make a bleh sound. From the corner of her eye, she sees Mira biting her lip to keep herself from smirking.

These are the world-renowned idols and fearsome Hunters.

The entire situation is, how would Celine put it, awkward, to say the least. The atmosphere isn’t thick with something awkward and heavy but something a little lighter and less tense. The tension is still there though and Celine is not that ready to pierce through it so instead she tries to break it slowly;

“Thank you,” Celine whispers. She clears her throat before adding, still not looking beside her, “for the soup. You’re very kind.”

“You’re welcome,” she hears the grin in her voice.

Celine eats in silence, watches and listens intently how the HUNTR/X girls in front of her interact with this Miyeong. She spots Rumi being a little more timid than Zoey and Mira but she’s still somewhat enthusiastic, all things considered.

Celine watches Miyeong’s interactions with Rumi—there’s this lightness present despite the baggage present involving the three of them (well, not this Miyeong).

“It’s okay,” Rumi shrugs, her cheeks a little warm, as she answers something Miyeong asks her, something about singing. 

Celine thinks her adoptive daughter must be the most distraught with the situation—with her dead mother (not theirs) that she never really met suddenly arriving and causing chaos but she’s handling it better than her. Then again, Rumi has a habit of being closed off when it comes to how she truly feels.

The soup is good, Celine thinks. It’s just like how Miyeong used to make it but she can’t really say that out loud, can’t she?

“Hey,” she hears and then she feels her tapping her shoulder. “Celine, look at me, please.”

She feels some sort of panic rise within her and stops chewing her food in her mouth.

Celine makes eye contact with Rumi from across the table and the idol signals her, with her eyes, to look at the person sitting next to her—both Mira and Zoey doing the same as their leader, obviously worried. Celine gulps whatever is in her mouth in one go.

Finally, she looks at her, at Miyeong.

Her breath takes her away but she tries to steady herself.

She needs to keep it in the center of her mind that this is not her Miyeong. This is someone else’s Miyeong.

This Miyeong is looking at her with concern etched in her face and Celine refuses to let her heart melt.

“I was worried when you passed out,” Miyeong says and then looks down on her lap (and Celine suddenly misses the way her eyes looked). “Then, you didn’t wake up for two days.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Celine says (and is surprised when her voice is not stammering) and waves her off. “This normally happens to me.”

Miyeong’s head shoots right straight up and she stares at her like she grew another head.

“What do you mean this normally happens to you?”

Celine grows a bit concerned at the dip in Miyeong’s voice, sounding much more serious and reprimanding. Did I say something wrong? 

Celine looks to the three girls across her, asking them if she said something out of the ordinary, and they all look away, starting to eat their food with fervor.

“Sometimes, I pass out from working,” Celine tells her again, as if it’s helpful. “It’s all there is.”

Miyeong frowns at her and stares her down. Celine suddenly grows nervous at how intently the other woman is looking at her. Before she avoids Miyeong’s gaze, the archer slumps against her seat, putting a hand to massage her temples.

“Even in this world,” Miyeong gives her a stern glare. “You’re still a crazy workaholic. No wonder both our Rumis are as workaholic as you.”

That piques Celine’s attention.

“Hey!” She hears Rumi say in protest. “I’m not that workaholic anymore! I’ve been going to therapy and the bathhouse more—”

Celine cuts Rumi off and looks at Miyeong with intent and curiosity, stern.

“What do you mean world?”

Miyeong shares a look with the girls before looking back at Celine.

Miyeong sighs and whispers here we go again in which Celine hears.

“I told the girls this earlier while you were still in the bedroom,” Miyeong begins and stares at Celine intently. “I figured I might as well tell you now.”

Celine mentally prepares herself. 

“I was out with my Celine and Poppy,” Miyeong says, her voice quiet, before she meets Celine’s eyes. 

Inside, Celine recoils at the use of the possession indicator. Outside, she nods, urging the other woman to keep going.

Miyeong smiles before looking over to the girls across them, “We were about to go to see the DIACY concert to support the girls—”

“Hold on,” Celine stops her, her face a little confused. “DIACY?”

Miyeong releases a chuckle and Celine shouldn’t really care about that right now but fuck, she does and it sounds heavenly.

“They’re technically HUNTR/X,” Miyeong explains. “In my world, they’re called DIACY. Same members, just a different name.”

Celine crinkles her nose.

Miyeong laughs again and Celine swallows her breath.

“Yeah, my Celine also never liked the name in the first place,” Miyeong says with a giggle and a wistful look on her face.

She looks across the table and sees the three of them listening intently. Celine sees a distant look in Rumi’s eyes. She needs to talk with her later after this.

“Anyways,” Miyeong continues. “The three of us were on our way until our ride was ransacked by a horde of demons.”

Celine visibly reacts at the image of demons attacking Miyeong. She reaches the glass of water across her and takes a sip.

“I don’t know if you ever encountered one of these in your world but in mine,” Miyeong continues. “There is this really extremely rare demon that, during a full moon, can bend space for a short second.”

Celine gasps quietly. Miyeong smiles sadly.

“Unfortunately,” she sighs, tired. “I fell through a gap it created and sent some of the demons from mine to your world.”

Celine looks at her, at the Miyeong in front of her, and worry fills her. So, that’s why the tear from two days ago seemed so huge as Rumi described it earlier. It wasn’t theirs.

“And that’s when your girls found me.” Miyeong says and then she smiles sheepishly. “Or when I found them.”

Different scenarios start flooding Celine’s mind, overwhelming her for a bit. There are other universes out there with different Hunters and different Honmoons. Apparently, also different demons that can manipulate space. It dizzies her and her breath catches in her throat.

“How would you get back?” Celine instantly asks.

Miyeong gives her a teasing smile. Celine needs to get herself together.

“What, desperate to get rid of me that easily?”

Yes.

“No,” Celine shakes her head, different thoughts and worries suddenly clouding her head. “It’s just, how are you going to get back to your world if a demon sent you here?”

The table is silent and Celine is aware that everyone’s eyes are on her.

“Our Honmoon has been sealed,” she begins, stuttering a bit. “Barely any demons have passed through since the past two years.” 

Celine knows she’s overthinking things again. Force of habit, she supposes but she doesn’t care right now.

“How do we find that type of demon and make sure you’d get back to your world?” She asks Miyeong but she’s not looking at her. 

She turns her gaze towards the soup Miyeong kindly made for her and sighs, fiddling with the spoon, then she asks another question, a little frantic this time, “Who knows what would happen to our world now that you’re here?”

Maybe it’s the weight of Miyeong being here and it overwhelms her. Maybe she’s just afraid that demons might come back and start ceilings souls again. Everything is complicated and swirling in her head right now.

“Jagiya, calm down,” she feels a hand sliding up and down her back.

Celine snaps her head at Miyeong, the pet name registering in her head and she freezes. Miyeong recoils and apologizes quickly, taking her hand off Celine’s back.

“Please don’t call me that,” Celine strains out and she feels tears forming. “I can’t.”

Miyeong looks at her, really looks at her and there is a sliver of understanding twinkling behind those eyes Celine fell in love with. Miyeong nods slowly, apologetically.

Celine releases a shaky sigh and stands up. 

“I’ll stay in the living room,” she announces to them. She looks at Rumi and there is a pained expression on her adoptive daughter’s face

Then she looks at Miyeong, Rumi’s worry casting a similar light within her features. Celine gets a little lightheaded once more.

She gives the other woman a tight smile, “Thank you for lunch.”

Celine slumps against their couch. She understands why the girls love this couch so much but the comfort of it isn’t enough to ease the tension and lessen her worries right now.

She’s worrying about demons and how, on some rare fucking occasions, they can come from another world and bleed into their own. Of course, it’s an extremely rare case and the Honmoon does still alarm them when there’s demons but it can still happen which means civilians can still be hurt.

On a more personal note, she can’t stop thinking about Miyeong. Of course, she can’t stop thinking about Miyeong.

She wishes she’s still passed out so she doesn’t have to talk about all of this.

She feels the side next to her dip. She doesn’t look at who it was but she had an idea.

“I’m fine,” Celine says, no bite in it.

“No, you’re not,” Miyeong sighs. “You’re always like this. Even in this world. I thought you would be less stubborn.”

Briefly, she wonders what she is like in her world. With the way Miyeong spoke of her, she assumes she’s no different than she is here. A self-deprecating thought passes through her and wonders what that Celine did. Something right and correct, maybe. Or, something better.

Celine doesn’t answer. Miyeong doesn’t talk. She just sits there. Celine enjoys the company anyways even with the reprimand.

“I’m not going to stay here for a long time,” Miyeong says, breaking the silence.

Celine instantly looks at Miyeong, the double entendre missed by the other woman. She feels the tightness in her chest constricting up to her throat.

“Once we have a full moon here, on the first night, and I’m at the Hunters’ shin-mok when that night comes,” she breathes out. “I’ll be able to go back to my world.”

Celine doesn’t have the energy to ask about it but she figures Miyeong senses her questions.

“The Honmoon connects all Hunters,” Miyeongs says and Celine rolls her eyes because, come on, she already knows that. “Which means it knows when one is missing.”

“Since the shin-mok is a spiritual place,” Miyeong continues talking. “It’s one of the few places where the Honmoon’s power is most unbridled and most raw and most communicative with other worlds. It will open a portal of some sorts back to mine.”

“How would you even know that?” Celine scoffs quietly and crosses her arms. “It’s not like you’ve done this before.”

Instead of answering, Miyeong laughs. Celine’s frown deepens before the other woman answers, “You told me.”

Miyeong shrugs and smiles to herself, looking down on her lap, “Well, my Celine told me.”

A single word shouldn’t be able to drive Celine out of her mind but every time this Miyeong puts my in front of her name, she feels like she’s going to combust.

“She’s been studying the Honmoon’s magic for years and then started studying demon abilities when Rumi was born,” Miyeong says, fondly.

Celine tries to school the shock she feels at the revelation of this Miyeong’s Celine (Fuck, thinking that just sent a shiver down her spine) studying demons. After Rumi’s birth? How did her alternate self react when she found out Rumi was a half-demon? How did her alternate self react when Miyeong was with a demon?

It hardly matters, does it? Miyeong is alive there. She was there for her Rumi. That’s the most important part.

“Nearly got her soul sucked out of her trying to get a photo of a flying demon,” Miyeong says, rolling her eyes. “Said something about Rumi flying in the future just like her father.”

Celine swallows a breath but not because of what Miyeong just said.

They are a family, aren’t they? This Miyeong, the other Celine, and their Rumi, and maybe even him —it was the stuff of Celine’s wildest dreams, something she didn’t think was possible or in the cards for her.

And in another world, she had them. Oh, she really had them. It was real.

She doesn’t know if she should be envious or happy about it.

“You’re dead,” Celine says all so suddenly, her voice low. She has no idea why she says it but she said it anyway. It’s a reminder maybe that she’s currently living in a fever dream. “I mean, here. You’re dead here.”

Miyeong chuckles, “I figured.”

She’s still so easygoing, Celine thinks like she didn’t just say that Miyeong is no longer alive. At least, here maybe.

“Rumi was so distraught seeing me and you fainted,” Miyeong says as if it’s a matter of fact and not some world-altering happenstance that Celine and Rumi would talk about in their next therapy session.

“I’m honestly really flattered that my daughter and my wife from another universe find me impressive, huh?” Miyeong raises an eyebrow at her and gives her a teasing smile.

Celine’s breathing ceases again.

She jumps right out of her seat, startling Miyeong, and then looks at her incredulously, her mouth hanging in surprise.

“Wife!?”

Her voice resounds in the living room. She feels faint again. She thinks the Honmoon vibrates under her feet.

Wife. 

Wife.

Wife.

“What’s wrong!?” She hears Rumi yell in worry.

The HUNTR/X girls immediately run to the living room, looking at the commotion. Celine feels their eyes on her but she doesn’t pay them any mind, not when she just receives another information she needs to unpack.

Miyeong gives Celine a sheepish smile but her voice falters a little when she asks, “Aren’t we married here?”

Celine releases a single disbelieving laugh as she shakes her head. 

She looks at the HUNTR/X girls, all of them wearing shocked expressions—with Rumi being the most surprised, her eyebrows up wide like she couldn’t believe what she’s hearing.

“You married Celine in your world!?” Rumi yells out. Celine glares at her and Rumi mouths an apology.

“You call her mama,” Miyeong offers. Rumi’s face softens a bit and then looks at Celine with something. The feeling in Celine’s chest tightens when Miyeong looks right back at her.

There’s understanding behind this Miyeong’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she says and Celine figures she doesn’t know what else to say. “I didn’t know.”

Celine nods, not trusting her mouth to speak. She tries to be rational, reels her feelings right back in, and focuses on the task at hand.

“No,” she sighs out, shaking her head quickly. “It’s okay. I overreacted. It’s your business anyways.”

She raises her head and the girls are looking at her like she’s fragile and is about to break down any second now. 

(She will but obviously, it won’t happen.)

Miyeong looks like she wants to reach out but Celine takes a step back. She grabs her phone from her pocket and looks something up. She gestures to the girls to sit back down on the couch as she walks over in front of them.

“The next full moon is in two days,” Celine tells them as a matter of fact but her breathing ran rigid. “So, you don’t have to worry about staying here for a long time.” 

She starts dry heaving, desperate to try and solve everything in an instant. Miyeong spots it immediately.

“Celine—”

She hears Miyeong say her name. She doesn’t pay attention to it.

“You can stay here with the girls,” Celine says, frantic but it’s not present in the tone of her voice. “It’d be a PR disaster if someone sees Ryu Miyeong of Sunlight Sisters alive and well. Think of the conspiracy theories people would say about this.”

“Celine—”

“The day before, we’ll go to the Hunters’ shin-mok so you can go back home—”

“Celine!”

Celine releases a ragged breath and looks up at Miyeong, eyeing her with a concerned expression on her face, her arms crossed and face scrunched up.

“You need to calm down,” Miyeong says, concerned but she doesn’t know what her looking at Celine like that does to the former hunter. “I know I’m not your Miyeong—”

“No, you’re not,” Celine snaps, the tension in her chest biting down, biting down on her skin, red hot and burning, almost letting go. “Because my Miyeong is dead. My Miyeong wasn’t mine.”

Celine heaves heavily. There’s hurt and pity in this Miyeong’s eyes and the sight of it buries itself in Celine’s chest. She sees Rumi, biting down her bottom lip, looking at Celine like she needs to hug her.

“I’m tired,” Celine says quietly and then moves to walk away before saying, “I’ll go stay in the guest room if you need me.”

Celine lies down on the floor and cringes at herself when she realizes she walked out on them twice today.

She’s been so immature and irrational, so unlike her usual demeanor, but she tries to justify it by thinking can they really blame her for that?

She hears knocking on her door.

“Celine, it’s me,” she hears Rumi. 

She sighs to herself.

“It’s open.”

She sits upright and folds her legs, sitting cross-legged as she watches Rumi enter her room.

“What are you doing on the floor?” Rumi asks and then shakes her head quickly. “Nevermind.”

Rumi walks to the bed and sits down. Celine remains glued to where she’s sat.

“I know mom is like this huge wall that disconnects us,” Rumi begins, sounding tired. “And as much as I find this entire thing really distressing and weird, she’s not my mom. I have to keep reminding myself of that.”

Celine and Rumi make eye contact.

“No matter how wonderful I find her,” she chuckles bitterly. “No matter how much of a dream come true she is.”

“I’m sorry, Rumi,” Celine says as she props up her knees and hugs them. “Everything is so complicated right now.”

They both know it—Miyeong is a baggage the two of them struggle to lift and open. Seeing another Miyeong in front of them unleashes so much tension and unsaid words.

“I know, Celine,” Rumi gives her a sad smile.

“I really don’t know how to approach all of this,” Celine expresses, sounding uncertain. “Your mother suddenly appears and my brain shuts down. And then I’m her wife in her world!”

She hears Rumi chuckle at that.

“How was I supposed to act?” Celine questions, mostly to herself. “You know how I feel about your mom.”

(It came up a couple of times during their therapy sessions together. One of the things the therapist asked them to talk about to try and rebuild their relationship was the topic of Miyeong. Rumi was always eager to talk about her mother. Celine, on the other hand, had a hard time discussing it.

“I fell in love with your mother,” she said to Rumi in one of those sessions.

And Rumi, surprisingly, didn’t act surprised. More like she’s finally heard what she has suspected for a long time.)

“Yeah,” Rumi gives her a teasing smile. “It kind of gave me whiplash too, seeing her like that with you.”

“See?” Celine says standing up and running a hand through her hair.

“Me and the girls were trying to make jokes about you being in a relationship with her earlier,” Rumi says with a laugh and then her voice stills, “Then imagine our shock when we found out it was not actually a joke.”

“Please don’t joke about our predicament, Rumi,” Celine grumbles, rubbing her eyes. “I know I’m not the only one being driven insane here.”

Rumi snorts.

“You have got to admit that it is a little funny,” Rumi says with a mischievous look in her eyes. “My mom and the love of your life appears after two years of peace and knocks everything down suddenly. The two of us don’t know how to act.”

Celine glares at Rumi.

“And then we find out she’s your wife. Like wow.”

“Rumi,” Celine trails off.

“I’m actually surprised you’re taking this so well,” Rumi says and then pauses before adding, “I mean, better than I initially thought.”

“Rumi,” Celine sighs.

Rumi laughs and then raises her hands in defense.

“Okay, okay,” she concedes. “I’ll stop making fun of you now.”

Celine sits down next to Rumi. She feels Rumi’s hand on her shoulder, a physical reminder that she’s there. It’s comforting.

“I’ll sleep in Mira’s room with Mira and Zoey tonight,” Rumi says and she feels the smile in her adoptive daughter’s voice. “I’ll let her sleep in my room.”

Celine nods.

“Please tell Zoey to not be loud this time.”

“Celine!”

It’s past midnight when Celine goes to the living room area (so she can go to the kitchen to get an entire bottle of wine) when she finds Miyeong wide awake on the living room couch.

The living room area is dim, only a couple of lamps and the lights of the city illuminating the big space.

“Miyeong?” Celine’s pretty sure that’s the first time she ever addressed her using that name.

When Miyeong looks up, she finds streaks of tears flowing down her face. Celine’s heart constricts at the sight of it. Celine walks over to her, standing a few feet in front of her before she asks, “What’s wrong?” 

“I couldn’t sleep in Rumi’s room,” Miyeong says, her voice small. “Miss my wife and my daughter.”

Celine’s voice digs itself in her throat and no sound comes out. My wife and my daughter.

“Celine,” Miyeong pauses and swallows hard. “My Celine sleeps with me every night. It’s harder right now without her holding me.”

Celine nods instead, not trusting herself to say anything as visions and memories of her own Miyeong’s embrace clouds her mind.

“Can you,” Miyeong says, her voice timid and silent. “Can you stay here on the couch? You don’t have to hold me or anything. You can just sit there. Just until I fall asleep?”

Celine contemplates it really hard. On one hand, alcohol would be the best thing she can do right now to numb the pain and just shelf whatever she’s feeling at the moment (and maybe steal some of Mira’s cigarettes too if it’s scattered somewhere in the penthouse) and then there’s Miyeong—someone she had a hard time denying when she was still alive.

Apparently, that habit still stuck, even with another Miyeong.

All plans of getting drunk jump out of the penthouse as she walks over the edge of the couch, creating a huge space between the two of them and sits down. From the corner of her eye, she sees Miyeong give her a grateful smile before she lays down after puffing her pillow, her head directed at Celine so the latter doesn’t really see.

“Can you come here a little closer?” She hears Miyeong whisper in the dark and she sucks in a breath before sliding closer to her, just a little, as Miyeong says. 

“More?” Celine does as she says, groaning internally, apologizing to Rumi for being a pathetic aunt, bending to the will of her mother (not her mother).

“Just a little more?” 

She slides and she slides closer until she feels the softness of Miyeong’s pillow on the side of her lap. She stiffens at their proximity now. She feels the pillow beside her slide down and then there’s weight on her lap. 

Celine sucks in a breath as she looks down: Miyeong’s head on her lap—she’s looking to her side because maybe she has somewhat of an idea of what would happen to Celine if they make eye contact now—and her pillow now enclosed between her arms. 

“I like your bunny slippers,” Miyeong whispers.

“It’s not mine,” Celine grumbles. “It’s Rumi’s.”

They exchange no more words. Celine’s hands lay useless at her sides yet again as Miyeong lays on her lap, quiet and just waiting, reveling in the closeness. The other woman’s breathing steadies and she feels Miyeong drift away to sleep.

She hears Miyeong snore lightly, pleasantly, a few moments later, and moving on their own, her hands find Miyeong’s hair, treading it softly, careful not to wake the woman beneath her.

She hears Miyeong sigh contently in her sleep.

Now that she’s asleep, she could go drink now. But it doesn’t feel right anymore.

Celine feels the drowsiness hit her soon enough.

Yeah, this is fine. Only two more days.

Miyeong agrees to answer all of their questions. Celine wonders if this will violate some laws of space and time by revealing things from another universe.

Then again, Miyeong has always been enthusiastic. 

(It was Mira who found her and Miyeong on the couch in the morning. 

She woke up to the sound of camera snapping, nefarious giggling, and several flashes blinding her vision before she saw a flash of pink hair whoosh right pass her.

“Mira!” She screamed out and was ready to stand up and chase after the choreographer but then she felt movement on her lap. 

She stiffened and looked down—Miyeong, still sleeping, the pillow she was hugging fell to the floor and she was facing the opposite direction now.

There was a small frown on her face and Celine grumbles out how adorable she fucking looked.

“Celine, five more minutes,” Miyeong murmurs. “Quiet down.”

She didn’t really move for at least twenty-five more minutes and both Rumi and Zoey caught her in that position as well.

Safe to say, she didn’t want to face them for a while after all of this was over.)

They’re in the living room again—they all just finished lunch after Miyeong cooked for them again—all of them crossed legged on the floor sans Celine who’s on the couch reading a book about astrophysics—something that could help her learn more about alternate universes and worlds through science.

Miyeong is on the other side of the coffee table, leaning against Derpy who’s sleeping while Rumi, Zoey, and Mira are across from her. There are bottles of juices and Milkis on the table, along with some snacks as well.

“Okay,” Miyeong begins, grinning at the three girls in front of her. She pets Derpy’s head. “You can start asking.”

The three of them look at each other, probably still thinking of questions to ask then Zoey raises her hand.

“Yes, Zoey?” Miyeong grins at her. “You guys don’t need to raise your hands. Just ask.”

“Are we still famous in your universe?” Zoey asks, her energy off the charts as always.

Miyeong winks at her, “Is that even a question?”

Mira asks next, curious, “What do we look like?”

There are curious glints in Zoey and Rumi’s eyes at Mira’s question and they turn to Miyeong expectantly.

“You guys are mostly the same, actually, except Zoey’s hair is a lighter blue than that,” Miyeong begins and Zoey gasps in delight. “Mira’s blonde—”

“Hell, what!?”

Miyeong laughs, “And Rumi’s hair is silver.”

“Woah,” Rumi exclaims.

“Can you strangle your universe Mira when you go back because why blonde!?” Mira groans out loud.

“Don’t complain, baby,” Zoey pokes Mira’s cheek. “You were literally thinking about dying your hair blonde a few months ago.”

“Yeah,” Mira deadpans. “Before I thought it was a bad idea!”

Rumi laughs with them and Celine allows herself to smile a little at the interaction. Just a little.

Rumi then asks a question, her voice a little quieter, “Are Zoey, Mira, and I together?”

The atmosphere takes a different tone but it isn’t a heavy one—just different. Celine stops her reading and slides her book to the side, just a little and looks at the four of them on the floor.

Miyeong gives them a soft smile, “Of course, you are.”

Rumi’s grin grows wider and so does Zoey’s and Mira’s.

Celine wonders if she should ask something but decides against it, afraid of whatever the answer would be. Instead, Rumi has another question.

“Is my dad alive in your world?” Her voice isn’t small but she sounds curious and a little hopeful. Mira and Zoey share a look before one of them puts a supporting hand on Rumi’s waist and one on Rumi’s shoulder.

Miyeong stares at them, a distant and sad look in her eyes, and she catches Celine’s gaze. Celine nods at her, maybe a reassurance.

“Your dad was killed by other demons when you were still an infant,” Miyeong says, looking down. “Demons found out he was with a Hunter and they had to take him down because he was a traitor to Gwi-Ma.”

“Oh,” is all Rumi says. 

“My Rumi,” there is that term of possession again—it’s a wall, tall and thick, a wall too good to be true, a reminder of what’s not supposed to be here in this world in the first place—Celine looks to Rumi and sees the same flash of hurt and longing in her adoptive daughter’s eyes, the ones present in her own. “Never met him at all. I only told stories of him to Rumi. He was a kind man.”

Rumi nods, just nods and she leans against Mira. She smiles sadly later, “Sorry for souring the mood.”

“No,” Miyeong tells her warmly. “It’s okay, aegiya.”

Celine swallows as she takes in Rumi’s reaction at the term of endearment. She’s been holding up well so far.

“Well,” Miyeong suddenly says, trying to lighten up the mood. “Like mother, like daughter I suppose,” Miyeong begins while she grins at Rumi and Celine doesn’t like where this is going. 

“Because my Rumi eventually got into a brief relationship with this demon boy—”

“What!?”

Zoey and Mira’s shocked voices ring throughout the living room. Celine purses her lips to prevent herself from laughing at her reaction. Celine sees Rumi sink to herself.

“Oh!” Miyeong instantly raises her hands out of defense and shakes her head. “It was only because the three of you had a small break for like a year—”

“We broke up!?” Zoey’s pained voice graces their ears. Celine holds her book closer to her face so the four of them don’t see her laughing to herself.

“For a year?” Mira asks aggressively, both of her hands on top of the coffee table.

“I mean, it’s fine,” Miyeong waves them off. “Jinu found out he was gay anyways and he’s happy with this boy from another group—”

“I dated Jinu!?”

“Jinu’s gay!?”

“Oh, that evil twink will pay.”

Miyeong looks back at Celine, frustration clipping on her face and Celine gives her a shrug, a small smile on her face.

In Miyeong’s defense, it was the three of them who asked in the first place.

Things die down a bit after a few seconds and both Miyeong and Celine listen to the three of them argue about what Miyeong just brought up.

Celine continues her reading, highlighting important passages in the book. The four of them continue talking.

“What about you, Celine?” Miyeong asks her, snapping her out of her reading. She puts down the book and looks at Miyeong. “Is there something you want to know about my universe?”

Celine reels it in. As much as she’s curious about what the other Celine was like, she didn’t want to learn what type of person her counterpart was for Miyeong to stay in love with her.

“Nothing really,” she says instead.

“Not even about yourself?”

Celine blinks at her and sighs, giving into her temptations. “You said she’s researching the Honmoon’s magic.”

“Oh, yeah,” Miyeong nods enthusiastically and there’s a glimmer in her eyes that Celine only saw in Miyeong’s eyes whenever she was with Rumi’s father. “Celine is a researcher in my world while I manage Moonstar Entertainment.”

“Moonstar Entertainment?” Celine scrunches up her face. “Don’t tell me our group name in your universe is called Moonstar Sisters.”

“Sounds a little non-binary to me,” she hears Zoey say and she doesn’t know what it meant but she agrees anyway.

“Our group was called The Stellas and we’re not a pop group actually,” Miyeong grins at her. “We’re more of a band.”

Celine’s eyes widen in surprise, matching the three girls’ reaction.

“Interesting,” Celine says, feeling a smile creep up on her lips. “Are you the lead singer?”

“Lead guitar,” Miyeong winks at her. “Sometimes backing vocals. You’re the vocalist and bassist. Poppy’s on drums.”

“You know, the bass is the most lesbian instrument,” Mira says with a smirk.

Celine glares at Mira. Miyeong smiles and nods, “Oh, definitely.”

Celine’s line of sight goes to Rumi, who’s looking at Miyeong in wonder. Maybe because of the fact that both of them know how to play guitar. Rumi turns her gaze towards Celine and asks, “Did my mom know how to play guitar?”

Celine looks down briefly and smiles, it’s small but it’s warm. She looks back at Rumi—Zoey and Mira always expectant of her answer.

“She was always the best with strings,” Celine huffs out, playing with the edges of the pages of her book. “Her bow and guitar.”

“I have a question now,” Miyeong begins and all four pairs of eyes are on her. “You guys are idols, right?”

Nods.

And then her gaze turns to Celine once more with a mischievous look on her face, almost reminiscent of Rumi’s.

“Then, there must be videos of your group when it was still active, right?” Miyeong asks.

Celine nods again.

“Videos of you dancing?” Miyeong’s eyes light up.

“I don’t see the issue,” Celine shrugs and puts the book on her lap. “The Sunlight Sisters have been nominated for several awards for outstanding choreography. You can look it up if you want.”

Miyeong snickers and Celine grows a little confused whether she should be offended or not at the reaction

“It’s just that,” Miyeong begins and then laughs. “My Celine doesn’t dance. I wanted to bring some of those videos back home just to tease her about it.”

“Ah,” Celine says, nodding. The new information doesn’t really do anything for her. “I see.”

Miyeong continues and then there’s a distant look in her eyes again, “She’s always so stiff when she moves, like her hips are basically stumps. I mean, except in the bedroom, I guess—

“Oh my god,” she hears Rumi groaning, Mira and Zoey gasping and then laughing out loud.

Celine feels her face and ears heat up and immediately looks away from Miyeong, burying her face in her book. Seriously, what is up with this woman and is she here to torment Celine?

Rumi makes eye contact with Celine and cringes immediately and then looks away.

(She dreamt of Miyeong, her Miyeong that night. They were in her house in the woods, near the Hunters’ shin-mok.

She went to their living room and leaned against the door frame, smiling contently, watching as Miyeong teaches Rumi some of the Sunlight Sisters’ choreography.

“You’re getting the hands wrong again,” Miyeong said as she laughed, going in front of Rumi and fixing the positioning of her hands.

“Why did you let Celine choreograph your dances?” Rumi whined as she failed to do the hand thing again. “She’s more evil than Mira and Mira once made us collapse!”

“I think Mira gets it from Celine,” Miyeong chuckled and then moved to her previous position. She motioned Rumi to resume playing the music and the pair began dancing again.

The two of them dance and they’re in sync with each other, the fire in their eyes matching, burning brightly. It’s better than anything Celine ever saw and her chest felt lighter. She was grinning widely and her face hurt from smiling too much. 

Celine didn’t think that the two of them saw her watching them. She turned back and walked back to the kitchen to get them something to drink.

When she came back to the living room, she saw them catching their breaths—Miyeong sat down on an armchair and Rumi was bent over, hands on her knees, heaving. She smiled and walked over to them.

“Great dancers, aren’t you?” Celine gave the glass of water to Rumi to which the latter immediately snatched it from her hands. The half-demon downs it in one go.

Celine raised an amused eyebrow at her, “A little thank you would be nice.”

Rumi brought the glass down from her lips and released a big and relieved exhale. She grinned widely at Celine and sheepishly said, “Thank you, Celine.”

She shook her head in amusement and turned to Miyeong. 

She bent down and gave the glass of water to her. Miyeong raised an eyebrow at her, her smile warm. She receives the glass with one hand. 

Celine grabbed Miyeong’s other hand and looked her in the eyes with a glint in them. She closes her eyes and closes the distance between her lips and the back of Miyeong’s hand. From a short distance, she heard Rumi groan out a loud gross Celine!

Miyeong laughed.

And it was the last thing she heard before she woke up.)

Celine walks to the elevator again in the middle of the night not to go to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine but to check on Miyeong.

She’s surprised when the elevator stops on the floor before it reaches the top floor where their living room was. Even more surprised when she’s greeted by Rumi when the elevator door opens.

“Rumi,” she breathes out.

“Celine,” Rumi says, the same as her. She enters the elevator and Celine makes space for her. “You’re awake ”

“I had a dream,” Celine says and she wonders if she should tell the rest. “With you and your mom.”

Rumi hums, “So did I.”

Rumi pressed the button to the top floor.

“I’m going to check on Miyeong,” Celine says instantly when the doors close. “She couldn’t sleep last night.”

Rumi nods, understanding. She’s playing with her fingers again. Her patterns pulse blue and as far as Celine is concerned, that means Rumi’s worried. She wonders if she and Rumi had the same dream.

She puts a supporting hand on Rumi’s shoulder and Rumi instinctively puts her hand on the top of it, holding it there. She squeezes Celine’s hand in support.

When the doors open, the top floor is lit up the same way it was the previous night. Rumi and Celine walk to the couch and see Miyeong lying down in the middle of it, not asleep at all, her gaze directed towards the ceiling.

She spots them and instantly sits up, her face scrunched up in worry.

“Rumi, Celine,” Miyeong sighs but there’s relief and twinges of joy in her voice, something Celine is familiar with. “What are the two of you doing here?”

Rumi and Celine look at each other. Celine resists the urge to laugh because she sees the lack of answer in Rumi’s eyes by Miyeong’s question.

Miyeong seems to get it too.

It is the last night they’ll share before they go to the shin-mok later on and wait for the portal to open.

“Do the two of you want to stay here with me?” Miyeong asks slowly.

Rumi moves first. She sits next to Miyeong, a little scared and shaken but she’s there. Miyeong leans into her and embraces her, holding her tight. Rumi closes her eyes shut and reciprocates the hug, tight as she could.

Miyeong doesn’t seem so shocked at the gesture. She smiles at Rumi warmly as she hugged her, almost cradling the half-demon in her arms.

Celine stands still as she takes the sight in. There’s a sob stuck in her throat when she hears Rumi whimper, her patterns pulsing a dark blue in the dim lighting. Miyeong leans back a little, enough to catch Celine’s gaze and she gestures to come closer. And Celine did. 

Celine walks slowly, the clocking ticking in the living room loudly as it can. She moves to the other side of Rumi and hesitates for a bit. Miyeong offers her a kind smile.

She breaks and she leans forward, hugging Rumi from her back and she feels the light of Rumi’s patterns calm, toning it down to a quiet and pretty pastel blue. She holds Rumi tighter and she feels her adoptive daughter relax, leaning against her quietly.

She feels Miyeong’s arms brush against her and she holds the two of them close, breathing out a broken sigh. The physical touch of Miyeong still burns, in the best way possible, and the touch intends to tattoo itself permanently in Celine’s memory.

This is the closest Celine has ever envisioned her family together and the thought it’s not even real shatters. The arms holding Rumi and Miyeong get tighter as she tries to pull them closer.

“I know you’re not my mom,” Rumi whispers and it’s strained out, tired. “You’re some other Rumi’s mom. But I love you so much, umma.”

Rumi sobs and she tries to pull Miyeong closer.

Celine releases a quiet sob now and she feels quiet tears streaming down her cheeks, pulling the both of them closer to her. She feels one of Rumi’s hands break free from her embrace from Miyeong and grabs one of Celine’s hands, holding it tight, with no intent to let go.

Miyeong releases a quiet oh and Celine wonders if she’s crying also. Wonders what she thinks of this situation. She must think that both of them are a mess.

Miyeong pulls back slightly and Rumi and Celine react immediately. Miyeong looks at them again, with the kindest smile the both of them have probably ever seen.

“I love every version of you,” Miyeong says, tears brimming in her eyes, putting one hand on Rumi’s cheek, the latter leaning into her touch. She casts her gaze to the side, to Celine, smiling at her. “Both of you. In whatever universe I find myself in, I will always love you.”

Rumi chokes on a sob again and goes back to embracing Miyeong, her hold on her mother tight. Celine goes back to her previous position and holds Rumi and Miyeong, afraid that once she lets go, they might disappear forever again.

She feels Rumi shaking, her patterns losing their brightness as Rumi’s breathing quietly subdues. Miyeong chuckles as she puts the strands of Rumi’s hair behind her ears. Celine laughs quietly at the sight.

Celine stays with them until the three of them fall asleep.

She dreams of the same dream again and her chest feels lighter than she expected.

Celine doesn’t keep track of the time and place anymore. All she remembers is that hours ago, she, Miyeong, and the HUNTR/X girls boarded the jet back to her place to wait out the full moon in just a few more hours.

Everything is a blur and the forefront of her mind is the fact that Miyeong is going to leave now. She’s grappling with the fact that this was inevitable.

Which sounds incredibly ironic and funny because she’s standing in front of her Miyeong’s grave. With some other universe’s Miyeong accompanying her.

“Is she different from me?” Miyeong asks, the one standing next to her.

Celine laughs but there’s a pang in her chest.

“She’s kind,” Celine starts and there’s a pang in her chest. “Funny, clumsy, good with a bow. She’s everything.”

She hears Miyeong sigh soundly beside her before she speaks, “You sound like my Celine.”

She turns her head and sees Miyeong staring intently at her, with a sad smile. She doesn’t know what possesses her to do what she’s doing but she does it anyway. She picks up Miyeong’s hand, shocking the other woman a bit, and brings the back of her hand to her lips to kiss, reminiscent of that one dream.

“Maybe all Celines are destined to fall for all Miyeongs,” she says, still holding the other woman’s hand. Miyeong’s eyes glisten in shock but she doesn’t take her hand back, just looks at Celine in front of her.

Celine finally lets go of her hand.

“And all Miyeongs are doomed to be annoyed by their Celines,” Miyeong says to which Celine reciprocates with a warm laugh. “Even by other Celines.”

“Must be,” she says but it’s not unkind. 

Miyeong gives her a wretched smile, all heart-consuming. 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The night is dark and the moon is full.

The Hunters’ shin-mok is surrounded by unbridled energy and the Honmoon pulses in a way Celine only ever sees during these nights, only she didn’t really think too much of it before Not when she didn’t know there was a portal that would arrive here in a few moments.

They’re in front of the tree—waiting patiently for something to happen.

When Miyeong told her that demons from other worlds can leak into their own, she asks the girls to ready their weapons just in case something happens when the portal opens.

She’s wearing her Miyeong’s old robe, her sickle in her hand comforting the rough of her palms. Mira holds her woldo with her two hands, Zoey’s hands clasping her shin-kals, and Rumi tightly gripping her saingeom in one hand.

Miyeong doesn’t summon her bow yet. Internally, Celine wants to see it. It’s been so long since she had last seen her own Miyeong wield her bow with such gracefulness.

Her train of thought stops when she sees the three of them react visibly—Mira is looking at somewhere else, Zoey accidentally throws a shin-kal into the night mistaking it for something moving, and Rumi points her saingeom in some other direction. She stills, “What did you feel?”

“There’s demons here,” Mira hisses.

“Lots of them,” Zoey grumbles out. “I can feel it.”

“Be on the look out,” Rumi tells the two of them, stern. Mira and Zoey nod at her. “They shouldn’t be anywhere near this place.”

“Of course,” Miyeong says as she groans in frustration, recollection gracing her features. “Some of the demons that we fought the other day that came from my world escaped. They can’t go to this world’s demon realm because it’s mostly sealed.”

Celine releases a sigh, “So, they must also know that a portal opens here and leads them back”

“Must be,” Miyeong says.

Celine tightens her hold on her sickle.

“It doesn’t matter,” Celine grips her weapon tighter. “We’ll be ready for them.”

The tension thickens each passing second, the air around them blowing endlessly cold. Celine swallows a ragged breath and feels vulnerable. As far as she knows, she’s the only one out of them that doesn’t connect to the Honmoon. From the corner of her eyes, she sees the Honmoon clasping Miyeong’s fingertips, as if waiting for the Hunter to summon her weapon.

She wonders for a split second how even a Miyeong from another universe can summon a weapon here? Then, she remembered she and her Hunters are still together.

The entire second feels like a blur but she hears it and at the speed of light, she turns her head fast enough to see Miyeong summon her bow. She summons an arrow from the Honmoon and draws the bow by pulling back, letting go instantly as the arrow flies.

Celine and the girls release a gasp when the arrow directly shoots a demon’s head in the distance, the demon exploding into dust.

Celine looks back at Miyeong—her bow shining in gold and pastel, the drawstring of her bow bright blue in the dark. She summons another arrow again and prepares her shot.

Miyeong heaves quietly and suddenly, she’s alert, gesturing to the girls to look in the general distance of where she flew her arrow.

“They’re coming!” She yells out and immediately, a horde of demons starts appearing from that direction within the trees of the forest and runs towards the tree, their shin-mok.

More arrows from Miyeong flies and starts hitting demons before they can come closer and Celine’s breath hitches at the sight, tightening her hold on the sickle but she shakes her head and locks in. She turns around and looks at HUNTR/X.

“Girls,” she tells them, her voice strong. “Miyeong and I will stay here to protect the tree before the portal opens. You do all that you can before any of them comes closer.”

The three of them, with determined looks on their faces, nod at her, “Yes, Celine!”

They’re off. 

They run to the demons running towards them and attack, with precision and with grace. From where Miyeong stands, she assists them by summoning her arrows and shooting them.

Everything seems to be going well until Miyeong lets out a petrified scream, yelling out her name.

“Celine!”

Before she can react, she feels a blunt force to the side of her face, the pain moving immediately up to her head. She falls down on the fine sand. Her vision blurs and from what she can see, several arrows coming from Miyeong’s direction are drawn and released, the demon that hit her exploding away.

The demon must have come out of nowhere. She feels ashamed for letting down her guard. God, how could she let herself get fucking hit on the face like that?

Miyeong jumps and starts launching punches and jabbing demons with the end of her bow. Celine manages to sit straight up, just behind Miyeong who’s fighting for her life. 

Where are the girls? Where’s Rumi?

She thinks and she searches around, hordes of demons in the distance, juxtaposed by glowing weapons and demons exploding.

In front of her, Miyeong continues to fight.

There’s a glow behind them—from the tree, a golden glow embalmed in pastel rainbows—Celine regains herself and manages to yell out, “Miyeong! The portal is open!”

But Miyeong doesn’t hear it, no. She’s fighting in the distance, her eyes filled with tears and covered with rage.

There’s a demon approaching Miyeong and the archer doesn’t see it. She stands up and grabs her sickle. 

“Miyeong!”

Summoning a little bit of her strength, she lets out a strangled sound as she throws her sickle, hitting the demon’s back.

But it doesn’t vanish and explode—no, it looks back at Celine with hunger in its eyes. Celine gasps as she walks back, the demon approaching her with ferocity. Her breathing unevens.

It runs towards her and Celine’s feet don’t move. She feels a clean scratch to her hips, its claws digging inside her skin. She wails loudly in pain.

She kicks the demon away just enough to create some distance.

Blood. She holds her wound and she feels blood oozing down her arms. She quickly glanced up and sees the demon preparing to make another strike. She makes a broken groan as she tries to steady her attack, ready for the harsh blow.

She gasps soundly when it stops running—the sight of an arrowhead pierced right in the middle of its eyes.

Then it exploded.

Celine drops to her knees, clutching her bleeding waist. The pounding in her head hasn’t ceased yet so coupled with blood spilling out of her body, her vision starts to  spiral. Everything starts to turn blurry and her breathing starts getting ragged.

Miyeong rushes to her, eyes frantic and concerned, “Celine!”

The archer puts her head in her lap, cradling her so that the only sight Celine sees is Miyeong’s face—there’s tears running down.

“You have to get home,” Celine says, broken and quiet. “The portal is open now.”

“You’re hurt!” She says it like it was the truest thing in the world. She sees Miyeong tear a fabric to her shirt and press it on Celine’s wound. Celine lets out a groan of pain.

“Celine!” She hears Rumi yell in worry, her tone coated in her usual demonic voice when she feels her distress

From the distance, she sees a wave of energy that blasted all of the demons in sight. Mira must have used her woldo in order to make them disappear in one go.

Suddenly, everything is quiet.

She looks up—the portal still open and still illuminating the area.

“You need to go, Miyeong,” Celine begs her, her voice raspy. “We don’t know how long this portal will be open.”

“You’re bleeding!” Miyeong says, fully crying now, tightening her push on the wound, preventing the blood from rushing out. “I can’t just leave you!”

Just in time, the girls arrive in front of them and immediately, Rumi kneels down and takes Celine’s hands.

“Are you seriously going to die on me?” Rumi growls, her eyes glowing golden embers and her patterns pulsing an angry purple. “After everything we’ve been through?”

“I’m not going to die,” Celine says weakly.

“No, you’re not,” Rumi hugs her close, uncaring that the blood is staining her clothes.

On the other side, she feels Miyeong. And the weight of time.

Celine gently pushes her away, “Rumi, tell Miyeong to go home.”

Out of all the things that happened tonight, Celine feels as if this is the most painful. Rumi’s head shoots her head right up and looks at Miyeong, matching her scared expression. Celine’s heart constricts at the pain in Rumi’s face 

Rumi looks at the portal at the shin-mok—still shining, still golden—and releases a ragged breath, struggling to hold everything together.

“Umma,” Rumi strains out and grabs Miyeong’s hands. Celine’s heart hurts resoundly in her chest.

“You need to go,” Rumi says and tears are sliding down her cheeks now, like she doesn’t want to say what she needs to say.  Her patterns clash against the light of the portal. “Please, umma. Your Rumi and Celine need you home.”

“But,” Miyeong chokes as she looks down to Celine. “Celine—”

“We’re not going to let her die,” Mira suddenly says. “She’s stubborn as hell for death.”

Celine allows herself to chuckle at that albeit really weakly.

Rumi’s voice rasps out again, “Please, you need to go.” She grabs Miyeong’s hands tightly. “I won’t forget you, umma.”

Miyeong lets out a pained oh and kisses Rumi’s forehead. The sight of this happening directly above Celine makes her heart do somersaults.

Miyeong casts her gaze down back at her and she puts a hand to her cheek. Celine leans into the touch, sighing quietly. Like she doesn’t need anything else to touch her again.

“I won’t forget you,” she says silently, a vow of some sorts. “I’ll remember you until I die.”

Celine feels her eyes slip shut when Miyeong closes the distance between the two of them—and then she feels Miyeong’s lips on her own.

She tastes the saltiness of her tears and Celine lets out a quiet whine from her throat. Miyeong sobs against her lips and mustering much strength as she can, Celine pushes her away gently.

She smiles at her sadly, “I’m not your Celine, jagiya.”

Celine sighs but gives her a warm smile, trying to make everything seem okay even at the brink of death.

“And you’re not my Miyeong.”

Celine feels her chest grow instantly lighter, the weight of everything ceasing, even just at that moment. This Miyeong is never meant to be here in the first place.

Miyeong only nods. 

She just nods. 

Maybe she understands now—the reality of her situation, the heaviness of her existence in this world.

She holds Rumi’s and Celine’s hands tight, so tight, as if imprinting herself on their memories and she lets go.

“You’ll live,” Miyeong looks at Celine, nodding to herself. “You’ll live.”

“I will,” Celine smiles weakly. “I’m not going to die over some demon stabs.”

Miyeong lets Rumi take Celine, her head now in Rumi’s lap. Miyeong stands up and Celine feels Rumi grip her forearms tighter.

“You’re okay,” Rumi whispers.

“I’ll be okay, Rumi,” Celine whispers back. “I promise.”

Miyeong slowly walks away from them. Rumi helps Celine adjust, watching as Miyeong approaches the portal with bated breath.

She’s in front of the portal now—she just stands there. She looks back at them—at HUNTR/X, at Rumi and at Celine.

There’s something in her eyes that Celine can’t actually pinpoint, mostly because she feels her vision adjusting but she sees something there.

Miyeong raises a hand, smiles weakly, and waves at them.

She sees Rumi look away for a bit before looking back, Mira and Zoey waving at her with pained expressions as well.

Celine finally closes her eyes when Miyeong jumps inside the portal.

In an instant, the glow of the portal ceases and everything is as quiet as when the night began.

Celine feels her breath coming back but there’s still pain at the side.

No, she feels some sort of relief. Relief that Miyeong has managed to go home back to her world. Relief that she’s still alive and her girls are well. Relief that there’s no new tear at the Honmoon.

She brings a tired hand up to her lips, the remnants of Miyeong’s tears coated on her own.

After that, there’s a contented sigh.

“Rumi,” she calls her out.

Before Rumi responds, she wipes her eyes.

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?” Celine asks her.

Rumi looks at her frantically, “Am I okay!? You’re the one who’s bleeding here!”

Rumi carefully stands up.

“We need to get her to the hospital quickly.”

The three of them carefully help Celine up. Rumi grabs Celine’s waist, careful not to put any further pressure into her wounds.

Everything, as far as Celine is concerned, hurts like fucking hell. Each walk feels like a fire mosh pit to her sides but she’s sure she’ll survive.

For Rumi and for herself.

“Celine,” Rumi begins as they walk back to the jet not too far a walk from where they are. 

Celine hums weakly.

“Don’t die on me, okay?” Rumi glares at her but there is a softness in her eyes. The HUNTR/X leader’s gaze moves back down. “I’m not going to lose another mother.”

Celine smiles at her and nods.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be going any time soon.”

in some other world:

When Miyeong wakes up, she instantly feels the weight on her—some hair sticking into her face and mouth. She pushes the silver hair blocking her face and feels relief overcome her system.

The figure pulls back and she grins at the sight of her Rumi, silver hair let down and eyes puffed at crying for too long, her patterns pulsing a deep blue.

“Hi, aegiya,” Miyeong whispers. 

“I thought we’d lost you, umma,” Rumi says, wiping tears from her eyes. “Mama and I spent days camping by the shin-mok, waiting for you.”

Miyeong sits up tight. Memories of that night clouds her instantly and there’s a pit forming in her stomach. 

She knows they’ll be okay. That’s what they told her. She chooses to believe that. After all, what can she do?

“I’m okay, I promise.”

Rumi nods eagerly and instantly hugs her again.

From their doorway, she sees black hair tied in a messy top knot coming inside her room rushing fast. Her usual thick black glasses are in place on her face, the sleeve tattoo entirely visible.

“Celine,” she grins tiredly at her wife.

She lets out an oof sound as Celine instantly puts her in a bone-crushing hug. Rumi awkwardly gets out of the way but there is a relieved smile on her face. Her wife buries her face in the crook of Miyeong’s neck.

Miyeong feels tears coating her shirt and she puts a comforting hand on Celine’s back, embracing her back.

“I thought I’ll never see you again,” Celine says and the hug turns tighter. “You have no idea what I would’ve done to get you back.”

“I know, jagiya,” Miyeong whispers to her. “I know.”

Celine pulls back and she puts a hand against Miyeong’s cheek. She removes her glasses from her face and leans forward almost instantly.

“Okay, this is my cue to leave.”

Miyeong and Celine chuckles when they hear footsteps growing distant.

“I missed you so much,” Celine says as her thumbs brushes against Miyeong’s cheek.

“I couldn’t sleep for days without you,” Celine whispers, bringing Miyeong’s hand to her lips. 

Miyeong immediately captures Celine’s lips in a fervent kiss, one hand sliding to Celine’s neck, pulling her in closer.

Miyeong lets out a quiet sigh but before anything gets out of hand, Celine steps back, confusion written all over her face.

Celine licks her lips as if testing something and looks at Miyeong, questions evident, her face scrunched up.

“You taste a little different,” Celine says warily and then her eyes widen and she points at Miyeong accusingly, “You kissed someone else!”

Miyeong rolls her eyes.

“Relax, I only kissed you.”

“What!?”

Miyeong sighs in endearment that night when she hears Celine and Rumi talk about being replaced by themselves.