A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also ans the next FIVE chapters are up on my Patreon for early access!
Sad boy Jinu incoming.
-x-X-x-
Jinu doesn't really understand what's going on. One mont he's reaffirming that Rumi needs to talk to her girls in order to get in a better headspace. The next, Mira and Zoey are leaving Rumi alone with him for so reason that he doesn't fully comprehend.
Oh sure, he's not completely oblivious. He knows they've been ribbing and teasing Rumi about her physical attraction to him. But frankly, Jinu feels that's more than a little hypocritical this ti around, because without the other Saja Boys to ogle, both Zoey and Mira seem to have no problem admiring his looks instead.
So really, where do they get off acting like Rumi is the only one who is… 'down bad' as the kids are saying these days? Jinu opens his mouth to maybe say as much but before he can do so he finds himself distracted, along with Rumi, by a whispering voice coming from the hallway.
"Derpy! Pspspsps, Derpy! Co hang with !"
Slowly, he and Rumi both turn as one to see Zoey trying and utterly failing at being subtle as she makes mouth noises at Derpy from the nearby hallway. The tiger in question slowly rolls over onto his belly and blinks his lazy eyes at Zoey one after the other. Finally noticing that she's been caught by them, Zoey straightens up out of her quasi-crouch and lets out a nervous giggle as she waves her hands in front of herself.
"Ehehe… just… trying to get Derpy out of the way for you guys! No big deal! Co on Derpy, co to Zoey!"
At hearing his na called more loudly, the massive blue tiger finally does rise to his feet and pad his way over to Zoey, who squeals in excitent and wraps her arms around his neck.
"Yesssss~"
Then, she leads him down the hallway to her room, a victory chant leaving her lips the entire ti.
"Gaja, gaja, gaja!"
Jinu turns his eyes back to Rumi, only to find her looking after her bandmate with quite the fond, adoring expression on her face. Of course, when she catches him staring at her, she flushes a little bit before seeming to co sort of decision.
"… Let's talk on my balcony."
And so that's how Jinu finds himself entering Rumi's bedroom for the first ti in either tiline, rely as a way to get out onto her spacious, plant-filled balcony. He's careful not to linger or stare in the room itself, though he does notice how spartan her furnishings are, as well as the box of juice packs he knew she'd picked up from the healer earlier in the week.
This ti around Jinu hadn't stolen one of those packs, but he still rembered the taste of Grape Juice on his tongue while performing Soda Pop in the original tiline. Total scam from start to finish.
Rumi leads the way and soon they're both leaning on her balcony railing, looking out across the city of Seoul.
"… You don't really like yourself very much, do you?"
Jinu blinks when those are the first words out of Rumi's mouth. He furrows his brow as he looks over at her. Seriously? Who started a conversation like that? In the end though, he just shrugs, deciding to be honest.
"There's not much to like."
"That's not true."
Her response is imdiate and sharp. She even glares at him as she crosses her arms over her chest.
"How about the fact that you saved Bobby, huh? Not once, but twice!"
Jinu frowns.
"… The second ti he wouldn't have been in any danger in the first place if I wasn't there. The Water Demons were sent for ."
Rumi imdiately points a finger at him.
"Aha! So you admit he would be dead if it wasn't for you the first ti! The second ti wouldn't have even had a chance to happen if you hadn't saved him the first ti… he would have been gone, replaced, and there would have been nothing any of us could have done! His soul would have already been with Gwi-Ma by the ti we realized sothing was wrong!"
Jinu… can't exactly dispute that fact. Sure, nobody had gone after Bobby in the original tiline because of Jinu's Saja Boys sche, but if he hadn't tried that, it stands to reason that Gwi-Ma would have definitely gone for a strategy like replacing Bobby as he got more and more desperate. Even still…
"One saved soul doesn't make up for damning countless others, Rumi."
His eyes dart out to the city again. Rumi had no clue that Jinu had very nearly sacrificed this entire city to Gwi-Ma before he wound up back in ti. Or that he HAD in fact sacrificed hundreds of souls to Gwi-Ma throughout the two weeks the Saja Boys had been vying for the top of the leaderboards.
Sure, Jinu hadn't personally collected a single soul… but only because he and the other Saja Boys were doing the far more 'important' work of weakening the Honmoon with their music. In turn allowing the 'lesser' demons to slip through the cracks and reap the harvest they'd prepared.
He'd done worse than personally collecting souls, really. Jinu had played a large role in every soul that wound up fueling Gwi-Ma in the original tiline. If Rumi knew about all of that, he's confident she would think quite differently of him. She only thought he was 'good' because all of her experiences with him so far were of him doing good things this ti around.
"You're making up for it now, Jinu. You're doing your best to atone, aren't you? Doesn't that count for anything?"
Jinu swallows hard and shrugs one shoulder.
"Perhaps. I'm just doing my part. When it's all said and done… well, we'll see what's next."
A sharp intake of breath causes him to finally turn his attention back to Rumi. She's looking at him with wide eyes when he does so, only to narrow them a mont later.
"Don't. Don't talk like that, like you're not going to bother sticking around. Don't talk like you're just going to leave us… leave ."
Frowning, Jinu waves back towards the rest of the penthouse.
"Rumi, I'm a four hundred year old demon. You have your girls. Do you really think you need ?"
"Yes."
Her certainty takes him aback and catches him off guard. Rumi growls as she takes a step forward.
"And even if I didn't, even if we didn't need you to stick around… we'd want you to anyways. I would want you to."
Where was this coming from? He knew she thought he was handso, he knew she liked his looks… but he'd been as careful as he could be to not emotionally manipulate her like the last ti around. Was this why Mira and Zoey were teasing her? Because Rumi was sohow falling for him on a level deeper than physical attraction?
A small part of him longed for that to be the case. But the greater whole knows it can't happen.
"You know… you were right the other night. Everything you said about Mira and Zoey, about them understanding my patterns and my heritage, about them not loving any less… you were right."
Jinu grimaces even as Rumi continues.
"You were the first one to say it even before they could. That even if we completed the Golden Honmoon, even if it kept them safe at my expense… it would be without . THEY would be without . And you were right. You were right about how important I am to them. About how they need in their lives."
Thrusting out her chin, Rumi glares at him intensely.
"What makes you think it's any different for you, Jinu? What makes you think you don't deserve a place in our lives as well… that you don't deserve happiness?"
Huffing, Jinu shakes his head.
"The difference, Rumi, is that when you said they'd be better off without you, you were wrong. But once we've secured the Honmoon, once you're all safe behind the Rainbow Honmoon and Gwi-Ma is starved of souls… you really will be better off without getting in the way."
Rumi lets out another growl at that, taking another step closer.
"You can't-!"
Jinu hadn't realized she was getting as close as she was. When she suddenly reaches for him, he yelps and has to jerk backwards before she can touch him. Rumi stops, looking disappointed and a little hurt as Jinu puts so space between them. Imdiately, he cringes.
"I'm sorry, it's just that… I can tell sothing will happen when we touch. And I don't want it to be by accident. I don't want anything to happen without your express consent."
The hurt in Rumi's eyes diminishes slightly as she slowly nods. Her gaze darts down to his hands and arms, covered in multi-colored patterns.
"You think that you'll turn my patterns iridescent when we touch?"
"More than that. I think… I think the Rainbow Honmoon will finally be right where it belongs."
Privately, he wonders if the transfer might kill him. Not that the Honmoon will just… dispose of him, but he knows he only has a finite amount of it inside of him. Transferring it all to Rumi would an emptying himself of the stuff. Would he keep his soul after that? Would he start to hear Gwi-Ma again?
If he heard even one single whisper of the Demon King's voice in his ear, Jinu is confident he would imdiately end his own life and (hopefully) return his soul to Rumi. That was far more preferable than finding himself under Gwi-Ma's control once more as far as he was concerned.
Still, despite everything he just said to the purple-haired half-demon, Jinu is selfish. He doesn't want it to end so soon…
"I think I'm ready."
Which is why Rumi's words make him wince a little bit.
"Ah… are… are you sure?"
But Rumi just nods, looking determined as she holds a hand out for him to take She has no way of knowing, but she's perfectly mimicking the position her hand had been when she'd offered it to him during their duet. The more things change, the more they stay the sa…
"I can't explain it Jinu… but ever since I t you, I've been drawn to you. The more ti we've spent with each other, the stronger that feeling of… rightness has beco. Mira and Zoey have already noticed it, so I might as well be honest with myself and you at this point… I think I've developed feelings for you."
She gives him a bright smile, even though her cheeks are decidedly rosy with a slightly embarrassed flush.
"S-Sorry, I know it's a little ridiculous… I just feel right when I'm with you."
… Oh no. Oh god no. Jinu can't help but feel horrified, though he manages to keep it off of his face. Or maybe that's just because he's shutting down emotionally as soon as the realization hits. The reason Rumi was 'falling' for him this ti. The reason she was developing 'feelings' for him… it was all his fault. Because he was being selfish.
It wasn't Jinu that Rumi was enjoying the feel of being close to. It wasn't Jinu that made her feel 'right'. It was proximity to the Rainbow Honmoon. And she thought it ant she'd caught feelings for him. She thought she was falling for him, all because the Rainbow Honmoon was reaching out to her and he was holding back like a selfish fucking asshole.
"… Jinu? Look, it's okay if you don't feel the sa way, but please stop staring at like that."
He'd let this go on long enough, hadn't he? Suddenly, a sense of peace washes over him and he knows what he has to do. In the end, even when he didn't an to do it, he wound up manipulating Rumi. No more. He needed to make this right. Plastering a smile on his face, Jinu shakes his head.
"Sorry. You just caught off guard. You're right. If you think you're ready… then let's do it."
Rumi frowns, looking a little uncertain, but she doesn't pull her hand back. So… Jinu reaches out and takes ahold of it, fake smile still on his face. It was ti. Really, it was past ti for this to happen. The Rainbow Honmoon had never been his. It was always Rumi's, no matter the tiline. He's just… finally passing it along to its rightful owner.
Just as he'd expected, sothing starts to happen the mont their hands touch. Rumi gasps as the purple patterns all across her upper body light up bright pink for a mont at his touch.
And then… the iridescent power that has resided within Jinu's body since he ca back in ti finally goes ho. It flows out of him and into Rumi and Jinu watches as his own opalescent patterns begin to steadily dim the more he feeds to her.
It's pretty much what he thought would happen. There's only so much Rainbow Honmoon to go around. The duller his patterns get, the weaker Jinu feels, until he lets out a shuddering breath and nearly slumps in exhaustion. All that power had felt so damn amazing… but it was never his. He was only ever… borrowing it.
He doesn't hear Gwi-Ma's voice yet at least. That's good and makes Jinu's forced smile a little bit softer and a little bit more real. At the sa ti though, he starts to let go of Rumi's hand, the transfer done now. She won't feel any strange 'pull' towards him anymore at least. She won't-
Jinu's eyes dart down when Rumi suddenly grips down on his hand, refusing to let him go. He frowns, trying to pull away harder.
"Rumi… Rumi, let go. What are you doing?"
But Rumi doesn't answer him. In fact, she doesn't seem to even hear him. She's having a mont as her patterns glow just like they did at Namsam Tower, filled with the power of the Rainbow Honmoon. Until suddenly… Jinu watches with wide eyes as energy flows from her back INTO him.
"Wha- stop! Don't give it back!"
She doesn't listen of course. And she's always been physically stronger than him. Now, with all the power of the Rainbow Honmoon backing her up, she's stronger still. Only, despite his initial concern, she's not just transferring it all back to him… her own patterns remain iridescent even as he finds himself filled back up.
Jinu can only watch, his mouth dropped in shock and wonder, as his patterns return to their forr opalescence, the multi-colored lightshow dancing across BOTH of their bodies at the sa ti.
He'd sent his fragnt of the Rainbow Honmoon 'ho'… and Rumi had multiplied that power tenfold and sent it all flowing right back into him. All this ti he'd been afraid of losing himself, but the truth was… the Rainbow Honmoon was never going to abandon him.
A tear streaks down Jinu's cheek as he lets out a choked sob of relief. He… he hadn't wanted to lose everything, truth be told. He just knew it wasn't his place to hold back any longer.
"Jinu…"
Rumi's voice, when she finally speaks, sounds strangled. He blinks and looks to see her crying as well… and glaring at him rather intensely.
SMACK!
She slaps him across the face so hard his head turns to the side. When he turns back to face her again, she growls at him.
"You… you bastard. How dare you sacrifice yourself for like that! Where do you even get off you… you IDIOT?!"
Wait what?
… Oh shit. She rembered. She rembered what happened at Namsan Tower. No… looking into her eyes, Jinu can tell imdiately. She rembered everything. In which case, the slap was more than warranted if he was being completely honest.
… Of course, that doesn't exactly explain why she grabs him by his shirt and kisses him a mont later!
-x-X-x-
A/N: D'aww, their first kiss! And it only took us thirty-one chapters! Anyways, now that that's taken care of, ti to get back to Bobby and Celine crashing out together on Jeju~
Muwahahahaha! >:]
Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comnt helps shape a story like this one!
-x-X-x-
If you'd like to read more of my work not seen on this website, check out Hentai-Foundry and QuestionableQuesting where I have over a thousand stories!
If you'd like to contribute to funding my writing at all, check out on Patreon/Cambrian
Thanks for reading!
Reviews
All reviews (0)