Chapter Text
Being cast back below the Honmoon was torture to the demons, another fight that they had lost to the hunters, but this one stung more. This one had everyone even more terrified of Gwi-Ma. Or worse yet, they doubted him. As weapons sliced through the men known as Saja Boys they merely dissolved back into the underworld, still under Gwi-Ma's control, filled with hatred and anger at the situation they had come to witness.
Jinu, one of their own. With a soul of all things. A soul! Sacrificed himself for one of the hunters. Or a demon? It was a question that had posed itself in the men’s heads, despite the screaming voice in their heads. Claws dug into their skin as they attempted to silence the voice, skin breaking from how sharply their claws pressed against it.
Gwi-Ma was furious, a grip he never knew could falter, faltered, and it didn't just falter on Jinu alone, no, other demons were starting to see a flaw in the pink-purple flame of evil in front of them, raging on weakly and painfully. Painfully, yes. The new Honmoon was draining, painful to Gwi-Ma. He could not see beyond, he could not sense beyond. He was yet again trapped. Another FAILURE.
He could not let them think they could disobey him as HE did.
The rage went deep, deep into their bones, the human-like demons barely able to stand as finally their legs gave out and they fell to their knees, blood dripping from their cheeks as attempts to drown out the voices with pain.
The pain was short, the blood dark, almost blue, as it dripped onto their hanbok, the liquid barely noticeable on the cloth.
“YOU LET HIM BETRAY US ALL”
“YOU ARE JUST AS USELESS AS HE!”
“W– we never- “
“SILENCE! YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME?!”
Instead of a response a wheeze left the man's lips, pink hair falling into his face as he tilted it ever so slightly, hoping the echo would lessen were his head positioned differently. But no. It’s hopeless. He had to do something, and he had to do it fast. Otherwise Gwi-ma’s wrath might… His lips parted, but his voice failed him. Instead the smaller one moved, forcing himself on his feet.
“P-PLEASE, MASTER. PLEASE. ONE CHANCE.” And the voices receded… Just a little bit. “It’s… it’s simple. Really.” he whined, his hands carefully removing themselves from his ears, claws stained in a dark almost black liquid as his golden eyes stared up at the roaring flames in front of him, not as big as they used to be, but still there. The demons behind him were finally allowed a breather, relaxing their muscles as their eyes followed the only demon strong enough to speak up.
“We… we just keep going. We keep doing what that traitor did but we- we don’t fail you. New Honmoon or not, the fans are still the weakness… sir..” He spoke, his voice low and hoarse from screaming in pain mere seconds ago. However, he seemed determined. “We can just keep doing this.”
“AND HOW, EXACTLY, WILL YOU MAKE IT BACK INTO THE HUMAN WORLD? The Honmoon is stronger than EVER!”
The smaller male, finally freed from the pain of voice in his head, stopped for a moment. Yes. How were they going to make it back up into the human world? The new Honmoon was nothing if not strong and persistent in keeping Demons out, especially after being strengthened. Like every year in the Idol awards there often was a drought of souls, simply because it was hard to get past the Honmoon... But never impossible, and this demon wanted to test the waters on the new one.
It could not have been anyone else. It HAD to be the “Saja Boys” that return back to face the hunters again and finally gain Gwi-Ma the ultimate power. They had it in their hands. Fingers clenched into a fist, already stained claws forming new stains as liquid escaped between the crevices of his fingers. He was angry. He was just as livid as Gwi-Ma seemed to be.
“One last chance. That is all I ask of you for us, Gwi-ma.” And he meant it.
The serious tone in his hoarse voice said it all. He WANTED this chance. This one last chance to live in bliss and freedom, feeding on souls all the like, all he wants.
“PATHETIC! You think I let you go unscathed, you are MISTAKEN, oh what did they call you again… ah yes. The BABY.”
The demon flinched at the name he was given, hated it from the moment it was forced upon him and his real name scattered away like dust, but for the sake of freedom what else was he supposed to do? He growled, his throat hurting only more from the noise he made. His lips parted but – he was stopped.
A hand on his shoulder, grounding him in place and making him shut his mouth, a usual signal he was given in the human world when they knew he was about to say something he would regret. They could not afford this, not here. Not directed at Gwi-Ma.
“Sir– Sir he is right. The human world is easily manipulated. The things that went down up there, there is no way they won’t wonder.” the demon spoke, his voice held a low rumble beneath it and the words he spoke were straight to the point if anything. There was a little bit of a lisp in it, the fangs that came from his mouth affected his speech, but he’s learned to live with it. Baby’s eyes dared not move from staring at the stone floor, a second set of shoes finding its way now next to him as the other demon spoke again.
“There have been rumors already, great one,” he spoke, precise and directly at the burning flames in front of them, “demons are able to pass into the human realm but they are greedy. They keep the souls to themselves, rather than giving them to you. They think you won’t find out.”
This only angered Gwi-Ma more, a bellowing growl ran through everyone's body, forcing them to grip at their heads yet again, gat hats falling to the ground at the intensity of the movement.
“ THEY DARE?! “
“M..Master- Please– You are weak-” one of them muttered, which seemed to have been enough for the voice in their head to weaken again. “They exploit this. And you cannot let this happen.” Another one chimed in.
For a moment it seemed like all four of them were on the same side, and truly they were. But not for each other, never, no they were terrified. Terrified that Gwi-Ma would take full control and torture them – Twist their bones and break their spines until nothing is left to break. There is endless pain in their future if they do not beg for another chance at saving him. Them. If Gwi-Ma were to lose his power, grow even weaker, their deals would shatter and nobody knew if they would be met with the fate of instant death or long, agonizing starvation.
“So?!” Baby spoke, arrogance and impatience in his tone. He was caught in the moment, in the heat of his hate toward the traitor demon. “Do we get another shot or not?” The demon next to him spoke as he picked up his gat, carefully dusting it off before moving to set it back on his head.
“... Fine. You are to find your ways back to the human realm and continue going for the Hunters fans. Do not. Disappoint. Me.”
As the gat made its way on top of the demon’s head his fangs vanished, a smile appearing in the stead while the rest of his face remained shrouded behind the hem. He nodded once, turning on his heels and walked off, Baby and the other demons were quick to follow, fear and blood smeared all over their appearance.
*
The human world continued as it used to. Almost.
There was a wild storm of outrage after the Idol awards and what had happened between the HUNTR/X members, many statements had to be made, especially over the so called “diss-track” that had been released during the awards as well. Fans were confused, concerned and angered at what had happened, the infamous HUNTR/X breakup. A situation like this had never occurred in their lives and for once this was something everyone could talk about. “You had to be there” moments were the top trending way to tell everyone how much of a show it all was.
The coverup lie was particularly hard to come up with, especially with the soon after reunion at the Namsan tower. How are you going to explain to millions that this wasn’t a formal “crash out” on stage? Explain the glowing patterns on her skin? And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface on things that needed addressing.
Rumi rewound the video over and over again in her room, her lower lip trembling as she paused, her own self staring into the camera. Hair frantic, patterns all over her body and one of her eye colors was even mismatched from the other.
She growled, tossing her phone aside only for the blue furred tiger to react by lifting its head, the magpie steady on the head left out a soft noise, as if offended by being woken from its slumber.
The only thing she had left of him were them.
She bit on her lower lip, nibbled on the dry skin before finally moving to reach out to Derpy, a gentle smile on her face as it leaned into the touch given by the woman.
“Bobby said he would handle it. And I think he is going to do a good job.” she mumbled, more to herself rather than the spirit animals in her room.
And yes, Bobby did indeed handle it quite well, with a panic attack and a half after he found out that the girls didn’t actually have a breakdown on stage.
“Promotion for the new song?” they said in unison, eyes meeting with Bobby’s who seemed backed into a corner. “Yes. See. Well. The people seemed to actually like “Takedown”, next to that one song you girls sang at Namsan tower, uh… what it sounds like, was it? A– Anyway, what matters is – you know they like it? And .. what better way to promote a song with… drama?” he said, his smile failing him as he stared at his girls, trying to convince himself as he spoke. He really did not sell it well.
“So… we argued on stage for a fake promotion. Then got back together for a song with … more meaning? I think we can go with that!” Zoey sputtered out cheerfully, nodding and glancing at the other two. Mira sighed, her hand moving to rub her eyes.
“Listen, as great of an idea as this is, the song.. It doesn’t carry a good message and—”
“No it’s– I think we should go with it.”
Rumi spoke, nodding at Mira who seemed taken aback. “You were, for a REASON, very against this song, Rumi. And now you want it out in public like this? Promoted?” her voice turned into a whisper, hand moving to cover her lips from Bobby. “During your most vulnerable moment, might I add?” Rumi looked at Mira, spotting concern in her friend's eyes.
A song about how horrendous Demons are and explicit about the ways of killing them. A demon with no feelings don't deserve to live. Rumi furrowed her eyebrows, eyes wandering to stare at the floor.
“Give us a moment, Bobby, will you?” Zoey said with a smile, turning her back to him and shoving Rumi and Mira a little further away, her eyes merely focused on her purple haired friend.
“Rumi.”
“Zoey.”
“This song.. It’s not something that we release. It is not like us. It was made with hate.”
“Exactly what I am saying”, Mira chimed in, arms crossed in front of her chest.
Rumi glanced at the two of them, fingers moving to scratch the top of her head. “But what else can we say… Bobby has worked hard to find a way for us to cover this up.” She spoke finally, her eyes glancing over to Bobby who now seemed utterly immersed in a phone call “No the girls did not break up. Or did they? I mean. No . They are together right NOW. Come on, guys, you need to give me more than that.”
“He can find another reason. WITHOUT Takedown being released.” Mira said, her hand moving to rest on Rumi’s shoulder which was quickly met with Rumi’s own hand, her eyes glancing up at the two Girls. Sure, there surely was another way to find but.. Why? The solution was right in front of them. It would make sense, would it not?
“So what should we do then?” Rumi asked, her eyes lingering on the floor. “We can simply say it was a failure in production, they played the wrong track and we performed. None of it was really supposed to see the spotlight and it was just part of the choreography. Acting.” Mira said, nodding as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, proud to have come up with it. She definitely had thought about it for a good minute. “The real song we always wanted to promote is “what it sounds like”..”
“Yeah! That sounds good! It's part of the choreography, to show the vile things diss-tracks can do to people!”
“Your choice, Rumi. But seriously we shouldn’t release this song..” Mira spoke, eyes glancing at Zoey and meeting hers, impatiently awaiting an answer.
Rumi looked up, eyes glancing at her two best friends, patterns glistening gently in the sunlight as it lit up the penthouse the four of them stood in. “Well….”
She paused, staggered even as she moved her hand to rest on her forehead, her other leaning on her waist. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she thought about the given options, it was just… A lot of pressure. Which would the fans actually believe? A messed up audio team that can quickly debunk the story if they wanted to, even though that was quite literally what happened, or a fake burnout on stage to just go with the flow for the sake of performance…?
Both seemed good, both seemed promising, really.
“Ugh..” Rumi groaned, the frustration showing. “Fine we- we go with yours, guys… You’re right this song should NOT get released.”
“Hell yeah.”
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Mira smiled, patting Rumi’s shoulder, more so to ground her again and to assure that this was the right decision.
But that wasn’t all that had to be done, no not at all. The Idol Award show was ONE thing, the Saja Boys turned HUNTR/X concert at Namsan Tower a whole ‘nother.
The demons hadn’t even tried to hide their real identities with the ‘concept’, so to speak, they still had their human forms, but their patterns were exposed to the world. Their fangs. Their eyes. Everything. They were literal Jeoseung Saja on the stage. Their REAL forms revealed to thousands, no, HUNDRED thousand of people.
One thing HUNTR/X has going for them to their relief is that there seems to be zero footage of the concert. Not a single fancam, video, news story or any of the sorts had been reported or uploaded anywhere, and even if, nobody would know what to look for. Most people remember waking up after the concert to see it was a HUNTR/X performance, and the venue cleared out with confused people left and right wondering how they even got tickets to it. It was hard, hard to cover up, hard to lie about.
Many Saja Boys fans simply hoped this was a new concept they came up with. Dark, creepy, mysterious, but how could anyone even follow the concept when nobody remembered it properly, nobody could prove it? Everyone, including Zoey and Mira, were enthralled by the seduction of the demons, their song. Gwi-Ma had made it past the Honmoon, it was broken and there was seemingly no way back. How do the people not remember this, or worse; REMEMBER bits of it.
Most social media posts now are all about the Saja boys and their sudden disappearance, the idol award lie had been eaten up by the public with ease, everyone believed it.
“Oh, to be forced to perform a song you never wanted released is crazy!”
-> “Why did they write the song then??”
-> “ well maybe they were in a bad place. “
“Idol awards messed up this year!!!! Next one better be.. BETTER! Props to HUNTR/X and Saja Boys for the makeshift performance!!!”
Social media was all over it. Eating it all up. Believing the lies.
But yet the Saja Boys were missed. They weren’t just a faint memory for people, they were the real deal. They were Idols to these people, people looked up to them no matter what they were to the hunters. Rumi to this day found herself rewinding Jinu’s part in Soda Pop, the fancams from the street performances playing on her phone almost like second nature.
Everyone had their favorite, their merch was still sold, according to fans however none of it would arrive even after weeks of waiting. It seems that even the company that the boys were with had gone radio silent. Which honestly might be because the Saja Boys WERE the company they were signed under. Other demons helped them do their dirty work, and with dirty work that simply meant putting stuff in a box and giving it to a human delivery driver they weren’t even allowed to kill.
There was something missing out there, with the boy group gone.