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It’s Derpy again. That silly, huge blue tiger with its creepy, yellow, glowing eyes and crooked smile.
I remember the first time he appeared on my balcony. Scared the shit out of me. But now, I’ve grown to love him. I even think he's cute.
Deep down, I know I'm associating the happiness of seeing Derpy with Jinu. Whenever Derpy appears, I meet with Jinu the next day. Sometimes the day of.
And it’s not because I have a crush on him, or anything. That’s impossible. He’s a demon, and I’m a hunter; it just wouldn’t make sense.
I’m excited to meet him, because…well, because I need him to help me beat Gwi-Ma. Not because he’s charming, or devilishly handsome, or that whenever I’m with him, I feel my fears disappearing. Jinu is my key to beating Gwi-Ma. I'm using Jinu to seal the Honmoon. With the Honmoon repaired, all the demons will vanish, and my patterns will be lifted.
Plain and simple. Defeat Gwi-Ma. Seal the Honmoon. Absolutely, totally, do not fall in love with the demon.
So, I didn’t mind when the blue tiger opened his ginormous, slobbering mouth. A blue envelope was sitting on his tongue. A picture of a fish bowl on top, and I scrunch my eyebrows. It’s usually a duck.
Regardless, I take it out of his mouth and open it up.
Meet me at the Aquarium at 10 p.m.
See you there.
Your Jinu
My Jinu. Ha. My nothing. My pain in the ass, if anything. Yet, I couldn’t help but smile and pat Derpy on his head as he slowly disappears into the demon portal. His eyes slowly drift towards my flower pot, and I push it aside before he spends another 10 minutes trying to right his wrongs.
10 p.m. Okay. See you there, Jinu.
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Zoey's loud screaming cuts through my dreams, and I wake up with a jolt. Throwing a sweater quickly over my head, I rush out into the common room.
"Is everyone okay?!"
Zoey is on the couch, laser-focused on her phone, while Mira is boiling water for the ramen cup that sits next to her.
“The Saja Boys are about to overthrow us on the chart!”
She pushes her phone into my face, and sure enough, the number of viewership triple by the second. By morning, they will surpass us.
“I’m going to crush them!” Mira slams her open palm into the kitchen counter. The harsh slapping sound makes me cringe. I know that must hurt, but her face doesn’t show any pain.
“I’m going to squeeze the daylights out of them!” Zoey grips her phone tightly. I have to ask Bobby to get her another one. “Gonna squeeze their irritating, annoying, stupid, cute, dreamy, sexy…”
“Zoey!” Mira and I both shout at her, knocking her out of the trance that those demons undoubtedly have on us.
“What was I talking about, again?”
I laugh, walking towards Mira as she pours the boiling water into her ramen cup. She offers me a bite, but I decline. My head is too twisted to eat.
We have to write a new song to assert our dominance on the chart. We have to seal the Honmoon. We have to defeat the demons. We have to defeat Gwi-Ma.
Holy shit what time is it??
“10:30. Why?” Zoey doesn’t even look up from her phone as she answers. I have a hunch that she’s watching Saja Boys fan edits.
“Uh, nothing.”
I backed towards my room, throwing a fake yawn and stretch to show how tired I am.
“You okay, Rumi?” Mira looks up from her noodles. Worry and concern cover her face, and my heart breaks at lying to her.
“Yeah, totally.”
A silent beat of her searching my face.
“Just tired.” I give a smile and hope that’s enough for her. “Good night, girls.”
“Good night, Rumi!” Zoey waves a hand into the air.
“Yeah, good night,” Mira says, her words hesitant. There are more words on the tip of her tongue, but she swallows them instead.
I’m glad. I don’t have the answers for her right now.
Back inside my room, I lock the door. Throwing on a nicer sweater, for no reason in particular, jeans, and a pair of sneakers, I sneak out through the balcony.
In the distance, I see the glow of Derpy with Sussy sitting on top of his head. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, I make my way towards the Aquarium.
Derpy and Sussy disappear again when I arrive.. I pace around the entrance, waiting for something to happen.
“Jinu?” I whisper into the air. “Sorry, I’m late. I was lying in bed, and I guess I just fell asleep. Jinu?”
Usually, the night was cold, yet warmth was spreading throughout my body. I would tug the arm of my sweater up, but I hate seeing my patterns.
Then a deep voice cuts through the air.
“I love the way you say my name.”
I jump back at how close he appears next to me. The heat from him radiates and penetrates through my sweater, somehow making it hotter.
But I don’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that he gets under my skin.
“Shut up,” I scoff.
“You’re late again. I’m starting to think all our dates are going to be this way.”
“I told you this, and I will say it again. This. Is. NOT. A. Date.” I poke his chest with my finger.
All he does is smirk down at me, grabs my hand, threads our fingers together, and pulls me to the now open entrance door of the aquarium.
“Whatever you say.”
The blue hue of the tanks illuminates our path. It’s empty and silent, aside from the filtration of the water and the gurgling of the water creatures. I mean, it's 10 pm, of course, the aquarium is silent right now. The place is closed to the public.
So, how did Jinu even get in?
“Did you forget I’m a demon?”
Was I thinking out loud?
“You’re still doing it.”
“I know I didn’t say anything that time.”
He shrugs, “Your face gives your thoughts away.”
Our fingers are still connected. I don’t even fight pulling away. It would be too cold if I weren’t holding his hand. Yeah, too cold.
“What is my face saying now?”
He looks at me. The thumb on his hand that’s intertwined with mine starts stroking up and down. His eyes dance between mine and then steal glances at my lips. I’m glad for the darkness because the blush that rises on my face would boost his ego.
“You’re thinking about…” His other hand cups my face, framing my features with his fingers. “Your patterns.”
I don’t even verbally agree because I know he could see the agreement written on my face.
“Mira and Zoey would understand, won’t they?”
His response mirrors Celine’s, and they don’t bring me comfort. I frown.
“I need to beat Gwi-Ma. I want to get rid of these patterns. They show my flaws, my cracks, I’m weak with them.”
Now he frowns, his hand dropping from my face and running through the ends of my braid.
“You should let your hair down sometimes, Rumi.”
“What?”
He leans closer. His eyes glow yellow, his patterns flashing against his skin. I can’t help but think how handsome he is with his patterns. How his patterns add to his strength.
“Your hair. I want to see it down, one day.” He steps away, bringing the warmth with him, and I almost close the gap again to chase the fire. But I can’t. He’s a demon, and I’m a hunter.
He continues walking, looking back at me, and I follow. My fingers twitch with the need to grab his.
He stops in front of one of the jellyfish tanks. He follows the fluid movement of one with his finger, trailing his finger across the surface.
“Rumi?”
I look up at him, and his eyes are already on mine.
“Yeah, Jinu?”
“Mira and Zoey might not understand them. But as far as I’m concerned, you’re just as beautiful with the cracks showing.”
Doubt crosses my face because Jinu is now using both hands to hold my face.
“Seriously, Rumi.”
He leans closer. His lips hover above mine. It’s so tempting.
All my duties fade into the background. It’s just us. Right here, right now.
Not a demon and a hunter.
Jinu and Rumi.
Two people on a 10 pm aquarium date.
“You’re so beautiful.”
He closes the distance between our lips.