Chapter Text
“Soooo tired!” Zoey whined, rubbing her eyes.
“Let’s just get back home,” Mira grumbled, her posture slumping.
“I’ll ask Bobby to get us the car,” Rumi mumbled, too quiet for the other girls to hear. Her fingers fumbled with her phone as she tried to pull it from her pocket. Her eyelids were in danger of shutting soon, and she wasn’t about to be here when the Saja Boys came for their rehearsal. She managed to send a text to Bobby before catching Zoey who nearly fell on her face.
“Must…sleep…” the maknae groaned.
Mira perked up. “Bench!”
“Uh, I think you're getting mixed up,” Zoey told her. “It’s ‘Couch’.”
“No, a bench,” Mira explained, stumbling over to a metal bench in a dark corner of the studio. “So we can rest for a moment.”
Her and Zoey immediately collapsed onto it.
“Nooo,” Rumi said, following them. “We can stay here in public! We have to get out of here before the Saja Boys come.”
“Mhm,” Zoey murmured, curling up at Mira’s side.
“We will,” Mira promised drowsily, her eyes closed.
“Come on Rumi,” Zoey whispered. “Just a quick…little…shut eye…”
Then she was out in a snap.
“Guyyyys,” Rumi whined, but she plopped next to Zoey. “Fineeee.”
Maybe just a little rest would be fine…a few minutes later, she was fast asleep.
***
“Girls?” Bobby called, rushing through the studio. “Girls!”
He was worried. The car Rumi had asked for was ready for them, but the girls weren’t answering their phones. They seemed to have vanished. It wasn’t the first time; they were constantly leaving and returning. But Bobby always worried about his girls no matter what.
So he searched the studio until he found a group of idols that weren’t his girls.
The Saja Boys were there for rehearsal.
“Hey Bobby,” the leader, Jinu, greeted in his polite, charming manner.
Bobby felt his lips start to smile and he shook his head. The Saja Boys seemed like nice people but he would never betray his girls.
“Where’s Huntrix?” Jinu asked, glancing around as if they would pop out of the shadows.
“I don’t know,” Bobby fretted. “They aren’t answering their phones, and I haven’t found them anywhere.”
Jinu cocked his head, smile tightening. “I see. Well, I suppose they’ll come around s—“
A loud snore cut him off.
They all looked around in confusion.
Then Baby snorted.
“Found them,” he said, pointing to a dark corner.
Sure enough, nestled on a bench, were Rumi, Zoey, and Mira.
Mira was sprawled out, her arm around Zoey. She emitted another loud snore, and all the Saja Boys hid snickers behind their hands. Zoey murmured something in her sleep and curled deeper into her little ball. Bobby felt horrible. How hard were his girls working to pass out in a public place? He wished they didn’t work themselves so hard. Especially Rumi.
Speaking of the Huntrix leader, she lay next to Zoey, her head lolled back on the backrest of the bench; a spot of drool was trailing down her chin and she mouth-snored slightly. Jinu felt his crummy heart do a little dance. The scene in front of him was too cute.
“I hate to wake them,” Bobby whimpered.
“Yeah, this is super entertaining,” Romance whispered, eyeing Mira a little too eagerly.
Mystery made a humming noise, a half smile visibly beneath his bangs.
“We can take them out now,” Baby hissed at Jinu.
Their leader shot him a frown. “No.”
Abby leaned in. “Why not? They’re vulnerable.”
“But they’re so cute!” Romance cooed, with a satirical smirk.
Jinu shook his head, fishing for an excuse. “Not in front of Bobby. We’re sticking to the plan. This isn’t a strike team.”
Baby frowned.
Bobby, completely unaware of their side conversation, sighed deeply. “I suppose I should get them home. Sorry for distracting you boys.”
“No problem,” Abby said, causally stretching his shoulders. Bobby glanced away quickly.
“Thanks for the show,” Romance muttered, giggling quietly.
The band members turned away.
But Jinu didn’t want to leave. Not yet. His gaze stayed on Rumi’s face. Even asleep and drooling she was beautiful.
“How do you plan to get them home?” he asked the manager.
Bobby looked troubled. “I’ll figure it out—as discreetly as possible.”
Suddenly an idea hit Jinu. It wasn’t the most brilliant or clever plan, but it made sense in some shape and form. The only problem was getting the others to agree…
“We can help,” Jinu told Bobby, keeping the eagerness from his voice. From the corner of his eye he saw the Saja Boys stumble into each other and jerk around incredulously.
Posing as Idols didn’t stop them from being stupidly comical at times.
Bobby didn’t look convinced “How?”
“Yeah Jinu,” Abby said through gritted teeth. “How?”
Baby and Mystery looked baffled, and Romance squinted at Jinu suspiciously.
“Do you have a car to get them home? We’ll help get them there,” Jinu said.
“We won’t fit!” Abby protested.
“You mean we’ll carry them to the car and to the penthouse?” Baby demanded, looking horrified at the thought.
Mystery snorted softly, also unconvinced.
“Don’t you have rehearsal right now?” Bobby asked doubtfully.
“Always happy to help fellow idols,” Jinu assured him, flashing his most winning smile.
The Saja Boys stared at him. What was he thinking?
“Of course we’ll help!” Romance jumped in, throwing his arm around Jinu and giving the others a look that said ‘play along’. “We’ll get these precious darlings home safe and sound!”
Mystery sighed but nodded in agreement.
Bobby hesitated, glancing at the girls. Jinu could see how much he cared for them, and his next words came out before he could stop them: “I’ll do everything in my power to keep them safe.” He bowed to the older man. “You have my word.”
Baby side-eyed him, his frown deepening.
“Alright,” Bobby agreed, smiling at Jinu. “The car is out back. The driver can take the night off so you all can fit.”
Jinu nodded with an easy smile. “Thank you for letting us help.”
Obviously satisfied, Bobby bounded over to the sleeping Hunters, whispered that they were in good hands and to get some real rest, then left.
Jinu’s stomach twisted. He hoped he could do good on his word.
“Well that was easy,” Romance said, tossing his hair. He started to advance on the girls, his eyes turning gold as he barred his teeth. “What say we wake them up first? I’d love to see Mira’s face when I—”
“No,” Jinu said sharply, stopping the demon in his tracks. “We’re actually going through with this.”
He walked up to Rumi. She gave a little snort and Jinu smiled. When she let her guard down, she really was adorable. Gently he touched her hand to see if she reacted. She didn’t, but her patterns responded immediately, lighting up at her neck.
Jinu truly felt for her. She didn’t deserve this.
Curling his arm around her shoulders and his other under her knees, he carefully lifted her into his arms. He was surprised with how little she weighed. Her head rested against his shoulder and she let out a soft sigh. Jinu felt a stab of something old. He had forgotten this feeling long ago.
Looking up, he saw the rest of the Saja Boys staring at him with varying expressions.
“What?” he snipped defensively.
“We have to carry them like that?” Abby said, raising an eyebrow.
Mystery folded his arms, not looking very eager.
“What, no! Just be careful. And don’t wake them up!” Jinu looked down at Rumi. The feeling in his chest deepened.
Baby snorted in derision. “Let’s get this over with. I’m driving.”
Abby went to pick up Mira, but Romance shoved him away. “No way! I’ll get her.”
He flung the pink haired girl’s arm around his neck and pulled her into his arms. It was less graceful than Jinu wanted. She let out a loud snore, her arm flopping at her side. Romance made a face, shifting her so that her head was against his chest instead of right by his ear.
Abby laughed. “How those girls sleep with this noisemaker is beyond me.”
Then it was Mystery’s turn; he surprised them all. He lifted Zoey from her ball up so that he was holding her to his chest, her arms and legs wrapped around him. It was gentle and more than a little sweet, in Jinu’s opinion. The maknae clearly thought so, too, and made a little mumbling sound, snuggling closer.
The other Saja Boys smothered laughs at what they could see of Mystery’s face; he looked almost embarrassed. But he quickly smoothed his features to one of nonchalantness.
Baby huffed. “You guys are ridiculous.”
Romance poked his tongue out at him, holding Mira closer.
“Okay let’s go,” Jinu said, biting his lip to hide his smile.
This was going better than he expected.