Archive of Our Own ^beta

Mi-Yeong was six when she was running through the forest and heard someone cough. The area that surrounded the hunter’s training grounds was all forest and woodlands, a perfect hiding place for them to train without someone driving past by accident. Everyone in the nearby city just viewed the area as a place filled with old villages and houses that were covered in so many vines and weeds that they looked like something straight out of a fantasy story. This is all to say that no one ever came anywhere close to the Hunter’s area. They couldn’t come because of the lack of entrance—unless you wanted to walk through a mile of forest—and most just didn’t want to.

That’s why Mi-Yeong was so shocked when she heard the noise. It sounded too human to be an animal or a demon so she slowly crept towards the bush and pushed the leaves aside.

Inside was a tiny girl, probably her age, with long dark hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a shirt with jeans and tennis shoes but they were all torn up and the girl herself looked like she had fallen in dirt before finding that hiding spot in the bush. When she saw Mi-Yeong’s face, she let out a small yelp and hid her face behind her hands.

“Hey. It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” 

The little girl still hid, refusing to let Mi-Yeong see her face.

“Where did you come from? Did your mom or dad drop you off?”

The girl only whimpered.

“Oh…do you not have a mom and dad?”

She nodded.

“I’m sorry.” Mi-Yeong whispered, “My mom and dad are really nice! Especially my mom. You could come with me and she’ll give you new clothes and food and we can play together!” The girl remained hidden in her bush, not wanting to move an inch.

Mi-Yeong, in her 6 year old brain, didn’t know quite what to do about this. She couldn’t register why someone didn’t want to play or how to get someone out of a bush. Finally, an idea hit her, “Oh! I know!” She cried, “Stay right there! I’ll be back!”

True to her word, Mi-Yeong returned an hour later with a woman who had dark hair that had a slight curl at the end. She also had brown eyes, similar to the strange girl Mi-Yeong had found, but she wore clean clothes and a hairband behind her bangs.

“Mimi, what did you bring me out here for again?” She asked.

“I told you! I found someone!”

“Someone from the city get lost again?” Sook-Ja rolled her eyes. No doubt another tourist mistaking the forest for some ancient and ancestral grounds that they just had to venture into to get their money’s worth out of a visit to Korea. 

“No.” Mi-Yeong pushed the bushes aside again, “I found her.” The small girl, started by Mi-Yeong returning, was even more shocked when she saw Sook-Ja standing over her. She quickly curled up into a ball and whined, shaking like a leaf in a storm. Instantly, Sook-Ja went from slightly annoyed to motherly.

“Oh, baby.” Sook-Ja whispered, “Sweetie, what are you doing out here all alone?”

She didn’t answer. Just continued to shake.

“Hey.” Carefully, Sook-Ja cupped the girl’s face so she was looking at her, “I know you’re really scared but you need to breath. Can you do that for me, sweetie? In and out. In and out.”

It took time. Lots of time. But the girl eventually copied Sook-Ja’s breathing, even allowing the woman to pick her up out of the bush. When she clung to her, Sook-Ja knew that there was going to be no setting her down until they got home. Well, a child was hardly the weirdest thing they had to deal with.

“Mimi, let’s go.”

“Is she coming too?”

“Yes.”

“Is she gonna be a…you know what?” Mi-Yeong asked.

“…We’ll see.”

“I want her to be.” Mi-Yeong said.

Sook-Ja smiled at her daughter, “Let’s go one step at a time, okay? We don’t even know her name.”

“Celine.”

Both Mi-Yeong and Sook-Ja froze. In her arms, Sook-Ja adjusted the girl so that she was looking at her straight in the eye. The child looked down at Mi-Yeong then turned her face back to Sook-Ja.

“My name is Celine.” She repeated.

“Celine.” Sook-Ja whispered, “A beautiful name.” A French name, unusual but maybe her parents wanted to give her a more European sounding name. 

“Celine!” Mi-Yeong cried. In a happy and childish singing voice, the six year old skipped ahead of her mother, chanting, “I gotta friend named Celine! I gotta friend named Celine!”

Celine gazed up at Sook-Ja as the woman followed beyond Mi-Yeong, “Where are we going?” She asked.

“My daughter and I have a house up here. We’ll fix you up, get you something to eat and find your parents.” She told her.

Celine let out a soft whine, “No.” She mumbled.

“No? You don’t want to find your parents?”

“They’re mean.” The hunter’s heart shattered at the child’s words. It was her duty to protect humans from demons and she would never go against that vow but there were some humans that she was convinced were just demons is disguise, “They told me I’m a bur…burd…I don’t remember.” Celine clung a little tighter to Sook-Ja when she realized she couldn’t remember the word. Almost like she was letting down her parents all over again.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to remember. You have me, Mi-Yeong and you can meet my husband and the rest of our little team. I know my teammates will love meeting you.” Both of them were huge push overs when it came to kids; they’d have no trouble letting Celine stay.

“Okay.” 

True to her word, Sook-Ja provided Celine with brand new clothes—ones that weren’t torn and covered in dirt—and a plate of dumplings and gimbap. Celine hesitated at first but after Mi-Yeong dug into the food she picked up her speed. While the girls ate, Sook-Ja spoke to her teammates and husband, Jeong Hoon, who all agreed that they weren’t going to search for Celine’s family. If Celine didn’t want to be found and her parents clearly didn’t care enough to find her; then there was no sense in reuniting them and putting Celine back in that situation. So, the group took in the girl.

“At least Mi-Yeong has someone who can keep up with her now.” Jeong Hoon chuckled.

Days turned to months.

Months turned to years.

And years eventually turned into the creation of the Sunlight Sisters.

———————————————

Rumi placed her phone away in her pocket after sending out the final text. With a sigh, she leaned her head against the window and let the soft bumping of the drive soothe her. Years of driving through the forest, through roads that couldn’t legally be called roads, made the bumpy path feel familiar to Rumi. She knew exactly where they were and exactly how long it would take them to arrive. 

“Rumi? You okay?” Mira asked from her spot in the backseat.

“I’m fine. I just texted Celine. We should be good to grab everything.”

“Remind me why we have to drive all the way down here to get stuff? Can’t Celine send it to us?” Zoey asked.

“There’s just some stuff I want to get myself.” Rumi told her, “And…I’d rather not deal with Celine right now even if it’s just for her to drop off a package.”

Sensing Rumi's shifting tone, Mira grabbed her hand and squeezed it, offering her girlfriend a reassuring smile. 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. Zoey and I will be there the whole time.” Mira leaned back in her seat, slowly letting go of Rumi’s hand but never losing her comforting gaze, “We’ll be in and out.”

“Thanks.” Rumi leaned back in her seat once more, letting herself watch the trees and landmarks speed by.

Sure enough, they arrived at the house right on time. The first thing Rumi saw—or didn’t see—was Celine’s car missing. A small bit of anxiety released Rumi. She wouldn’t have to see Celine just yet. The Idol Awards hadn’t been that long ago and Rumi was still struggling with how to view Celine now. She certainly didn’t hate the woman by any means but to say she loved her as she had before wouldn’t have been true either. For the time, space was the best option and Celine understood that. Although a small part of Rumi feared she was so okay with not seeing Rumi because she couldn’t face her patterns.

“Awww. Look at little Rumi’s stuffed teddy bear.” Zoey cried, holding up a beyond hold stuffed bear that had originally been sitting on her bed. 

When the trio had first started training, they all stayed in the same house by the training grounds which was a few minutes from Celine and Rumi’s main house. Celine said it helped to bond them if they stayed close to one another and none of them disagreed. However, because of this, Zoey and Mira had never seen Rumi’s room. They’d been in the main house only for special occasions but always found their way back to the training house for bed.

“Rumi…did you used to have a thing for American boybands?” Mira asked, holding up a faded picture of One Direction.

“I think it was more than just a thing.” Zoey said, finding another picture next to it with a heart next to the Jonas Brothers.

“Leave me alone.” Rumi playfully took the pictures back.

“Do these pictures come with us or are your two incredibly hot girlfriends enough?” Mira asked.

Rumi held up the picture of the Jonas’s to Mira’s face, “I don’t know…”

“You–” Mira pulled Rumi in for a kiss, laughing at her surprised face. With a laugh, Rumi put the two pictures back on her desk which hadn’t gained a hint of dust since she abandoned the room about 5 years ago, “Okay. So where is your stuff?”

“Celine said she put the boxes here and in the office.” Rumi told them, “They should all be marked as coming back to the tower with us.”

“I’ll start getting some of the boxes in the office.” Zoey said, faintly listening to Rumi calling out a thank you as she walked towards the office. Although Zoey hadn’t been in the house in years, everything was laid out incredibly neatly. It was easy to find her way around. Within second, she arrived at the office and laid her eyes on the three boxes filled with documents and items that Rumi needed. 

Zoey was in the middle of picking up the box when she noticed a separate box next to the desk. It wasn’t placed with all the others but it looked similar to them. She really didn’t want Rumi to have to come back—-one trip back here after she had almost…—-it was just better to make sure they had everything they needed before driving off. Zoey went to the box and opened it up, finding piles and piles of photos, documents, transcripts, even a baby blanket with Rumi’s name.

Slowly, Zoey found herself scouring through everything in the box. There were photos of Rumi, images of her patterns that were marked as evidence, photos of a woman Zoey had never seen holding Rumi incorrectly with a disgusted look, documents of someone named Sook-Ja consistently abandoning Rumi. There was so much Zoey’s head was starting to hurt just from looking over a couple documents. She was so wrapped up in the papers that she didn’t hear Mira and Rumi come in from behind.

“Zo–”

“Ah!” Zoey jumped two feet in the air when she felt Rumi touch her shoulder, “Oh. Sorry, sorry. I just got…I got so wrapped up in all of this.”

“What is this?” Rumi asked.

“You’ve never seen it?”

“Looks like adoption and custody battle papers.” Rumi said.

“Custody battles?” Mira asked. Both of them were sitting down now, taking papers out of the box and reviewing them over at their own pace, “Didn’t Celine get automatic custody of you after your mom died?”

“I thought so.” Rumi said, “Who’s Sook-Ja?” 

“Just looked her up.” Zoey said, “That’s not her. That’s not her. Maybe…Oh! Here she is! She is the former lead singer of….WHAT THE HELL!?!” Zoey screamed.

Now Mira and Rumi were the startled ones, staring at Zoey like she had just read the most shocking news of her entire life. In typical Zoey fashion, she made no move to explain her scream to them and instead continued to read through the paper as fast as she could.

“Zo?” Mira asked.

“Oh! Oh! Right, sorry. Sook-Ja was your grandmother.” Zoey said, looking up at Rumi, “She was Mi-Yeong’s mother and the former lead singer of the Freedom Trio.” When Celine originally taught them about the previous hunters, she never gave out names for them. She told the girls the title of their groups but never their individual names, claiming it wasn’t needed and instead they just needed to know that the groups had put blood, sweat, tears and their souls into creating the honmoon to keep everyone safe.

“Did you know this?” Mira asked.

“I…I think I asked Celine once if I had grandparents and she told me they were dead.” Rumi said, “Why would she lie?”

“Apparently they weren’t good grandparents.” Zoey winced, “There’s multiple reports from Celine in here that they were abandoning you and multiple petitions for sole custody.” 

Rumi took the papers in her hands and looked them over. Sure enough, Zoey was right. Piles upon piles of transcripts from calls, text messages, photos, and even just hand written notes to multiple judges—all sent back—from Celine saying Sook-Ja and Jeong Hoon—Rumi assumed that was her grandfather—were a danger to Rumi.

“Why wouldn’t she…”

This time they heard the footsteps. They heard someone walk into the house and sigh and freeze when they noticed the office lights still on.

“Girls?” Celine called.

“In here.” Zoey called back.

Celine poked her head into the room, emotions unreadable as she looked over the girls. Almost like she was afraid to ask why they were still in the house when they were supposed to be gone but also worried she had come back too soon and was causing problems. Then her eyes fell onto the box.

“Who’s Sook-Ja?” Rumi asked.

Celine pressed her lips together, “You don’t have to know—”

“I want to. Who was she and why did you write that she was neglecting me? Why did she even have me as a baby? You said you adopted me a few days after I was born!” Rumi snapped.

Celine gave a small sigh. She turned towards the other side of the office and opened a cabinet, revealing at least three more boxes exactly like the one the girls were all circled around. Celine pulled out one box in particular and brought it over, taking a seat next to Mira and Zoey, who scooched closer to Rumi.

“When your mother died, I had to register you and get a birth certificate done and…this was all before the media picked up on your mother’s death and your birth. I got by initially telling officials I had no idea who your father was but that I was perfectly ready to adopt you and raise you. They didn’t like that. One of the older women told me that I was insane for thinking I could raise you alone. You need two parents. A single mother—even a rich one—is not right for a baby. So, they took you,” Rumi’s eyes widened, “and gave you to your demon hunter grandparents. They weren’t exactly happy to have a half demon for a granddaughter.”

—--------------------------------------------

Celine’s heel continued to tap against the floor while she sat at the table. Eun-Ji, the third member of the Sunlight Sisters, was alternating between looking at her and looking down at the table. Jeong Hoon was sitting across from her with his head in his hands and a growing look of anger on his face. Sook-Ja wasn’t much better. She was pacing the floor while ignoring the sobbing infant only a foot away from her.

“I can get her bottle.” Celine offered.

“Celine, sit down.” Sook-Ja snapped. She seemed to quickly realize her tone and sighed, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. We just need to figure out what to do with this thing. Jeong and I have custody for now so we can keep her away from the spotlight while you and Eunji continue to perform.”

“You want us to perform without Mi-Yeong?” Celine asked.

“Is that even possible?” Eun-Ji asked.

“It’ll be hard, I won’t lie, but we need hunters especially with this…thing now a reality.” Sook-Ja glared at the sobbing infant like she had somehow orchestrated this.

“What will happen to Rumi?” Celine asked.

“Who?” Jeong Hoon asked.

“The baby.”

“The demon,” Sook-Ja corrected, “will be handled. You two just worry about your job.”

Celine stood up, “Sook-Ja, I can take her. I know single parents aren’t exactly…the norm but if you give me custody I can take her in and raise her. She could be a really strong hunter. Mi-Yeong was your daughter, Rumi is your—”

“Do not compare my daughter or me to that thing.” Sook-Ja hissed, “What Mi-Yeong was thinking when she had a demon’s baby, I don’t know, but I will not allow her demon creation to cause any more problems. Celine, listen to me and listen good.” The woman leaned down until she was eye level with her, “Do you job. Protect the honmoon. Leave the demon to me. Do you understand?”

“I…I understand.” Celine whispered.

“Good.”

—---------------------------------

“They said that?” Mira asked.

“Like I said, they didn’t like having a half demon for a grandchild.”

“They hated me that much?” Rumi asked.

Celine pulled a blanket out of one of the boxes, swiping her thumb across it, “I…admit I should have caught onto the issues sooner but you were just a baby. I was sure they wouldn’t do anything. Then I came to visit them a few days later and found you in the kitchen.”

—--------------------------------

“Sook-Ja!” Celine called, “Sook-Ja! I want to talk about our next show. Without Mi-Yeong should we try to find a new singer or maybe—”

As Celine turned the corner into the kitchen, she found Rumi on the floor only wrapped in the blanket. She wasn’t crying but she was whining and her lip was trembling.

“Rumi!” Celine cried, scooping up the baby. Feeling the warm arms around her, Rumi nestled close and let out a soft coo, “It’s okay. I got you. I got you. What are you doing out here all by yourself?” Obviously, Rumi didn’t answer but she did give Celine her little hungry coo. Despite the tension of the moment, Celine did chuckle. She grabbed some of the formula and made a small bottle for the baby, feeding her at the table.

“What are you doing?” Sook-Ja snapped.

“I found Rumi on the floor. Why was she just left alone? Why isn’t she clothed?” Celine snapped.

“She’s a demon. Demons don’t deserve comforts, Celine. Would you like me to knit Gwi-Ma a sweater?” 

“She’s a baby!” Celine yelled, “She’s 10 days old!” 

“She’s a demon! You’ve seen her patterns! She’s a danger to this world!”

“You don’t know that! She’s the last thing you have left of your daughter, she’s an infant, and you’re treating her like her life doesn’t matter!” 

“She was never supposed to even exist! A hunter and demon should never have had a child!”

Celine swallowed her anger. She agreed with Sook-Ja on that. When she found out Mi-Yeong’s partner was a demon, a million thoughts and questions rushed through her mind. How the daughter of a hunter allowed herself to fall for a demon was a question for another day though. What mattered was that Rumi was innocent. No matter what Celine did, she could never see Rumi as having any fault in this. She was just a baby. A baby who clearly just wanted comfort.

“I won’t let you hurt Mi-Yeong’s daughter.” Celine declared, “I want her.”

Sook-Ja laughed, “You want her? What for? She’s—“

“She’s Mi Yeong’s daughter. Mimi would have wanted, more than anything, for her daughter to be loved and safe and I intend to do that for Rumi.”

“Celine, be reasonable. You’re an idol. You’re a hunter. You don’t have time to raise a baby or parent a half demon child.” Sook-Ja placed a hand on Celine’s shoulder, “Besides, you know the courts will never let you have custody. A single mom won’t get custody.”

“Better than an orphanage or her negligent grandparents.” Celine hissed.

“Celine!” 

“I’m taking Rumi.” Celine’s tone turned hard. Almost like she was trying to convince herself more than Sook-Ja, “If you want, you can fight me for her in court.”

“Don’t do this, Celine. Don’t make this mistake.” Sook-Ja’s eyes narrowed and she pressed herself against Celine, not caring that Rumi was starting to whimper, “You know this creature doesn’t deserve your time or effort.”

“But Mi Yeong does.” Celine whispered. She turned away, Rumi still in her arms, and stoned out of the house. She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do or where she would go but none of that really mattered to her when Rumi started to smile and reach for her. Celine stopped dead in her path to stare down at the infant, “You seem really happy about all this.”

“Bleh!” Rumi let out a small bit of spit and giggled again.

Letting out a light chuckle, Celine readjusted Rumi in her arms, “I got you, Rumi. I swear…I swear I got you.” 

————————————

Rumi stared down at the pile of papers on the ground. Her eyes went from box to box, trying to calculate just how many papers were in each box and how many court appointments they represented. That wasn’t even including all the extra paperwork Celine probably had in the boxes or stuffed somewhere else in the office or on her computer. Finally, Rumi’s eyes landed on her adoption certificate, still proudly showing on Celine’s desk for all to see. 

“....How long?”

“It took me a year to get custody of you.” Celine whispered, “In that time, you went to a few foster homes, back to your grandparents and even to Eun-Ji. You were so young when I finally got custody and your grandparents didn’t want anything to do with you so it made sense to just tell you that I always had custody.” 

“What happened to Eun-Ji?” Zoey asked.

“She did what she thought was best.”

————————————

It was pouring rain outside of the courthouse with the distant sound of thunder rolling in like a vague threat that hadn’t arrived yet but everyone could tell was coming. Inside the courthouse, no one gave Celine another look—except to occasionally question if she was the renowned idol—allowing her to gently rock Rumi in her arms, singing a quiet lullaby. Her arms ached from demon fighting the night before but she refused to let that stop her from holding the purple haired baby.

“Don’t waste your voice on it.” Sook-Ja hissed.

“My voice is fine.” Celine growled back.

Since the battles, Celine and Sook-Ja’s relationship had broken into pieces. They never spoke kindly to one another anymore, constantly avoided each other and, whenever they were forced into the same room, they either glared or refused eye contact. Both of them still took their jobs as hunters seriously, but that didn’t mean they had to like one another now.

“You’ve made a horrible mistake, Celine. Mark my words. You and this half breed will be the reason the honmoon falls apart. You’ve destroyed the Sunlight Sisters and now you’ve allowed this demon to walk free in our world.” Sook-Ja spoke with the darkest tone Celine had ever heard, “I should have left you in that forest.”

It would be a lie to say that that final sentence only hurt a little. 

It gutted Celine.

She loved Sook-Ja. She truly did. The woman had raised her, comforted her during storms, gave her birthday parties, trained her, helped her when she made mistakes without ever making her feel like a failure. 

She had been her mother. 

This wasn’t a mentor or a leader expressing her disappointment. This was her mother telling her she wished she never saved her life.

“But you didn’t.” Celine simply stated, “And because of that I’m here to raise Rumi and keep her safe.” With that, Celine turned and walked out the door.

Two hours later, she was back at the house, setting Rumi down for her nap when she heard the door open. Eun-Ji walked in with no greeting or smile. She didn’t even sit down or take her shoes off when she entered. Rather, she stood by the door and stared at Celine. 

“You’re leaving.” It wasn’t a question.

“Sook-Ja is going to try and put together a new group of demon hunters to protect the honmoon. We’re leaving and heading north.” Sook-Ja and the other hunters had already made it a point that they didn’t want to stay somewhere clearly tainted by a demon. Whether they were referring to Rumi’s father or Rumi, Celine didn’t know or care to find out.

“I wish you luck, Jiji. You know you’re welcome here whenever you want.”

“Thank you, Cece. What will you do?” 

“Raise Rumi. Maybe try for a solo career. I know I won’t be as strong without you and Mi-Yeong but maybe it’ll count for something.” She said.

“Good luck.” 

A silence hung between the two. It wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable. It was simply that Eun-Ji and Celine had said everything they already needed to say. They both knew what they were doing and they knew what this new path would mean for them both. There was no sense in prolonging it. Eun-Ji had only returned because she couldn’t bear to not see Celine one final time. Moving across the room like a ghost, Eun-Ji hugged Celine with every ounce of strength she had left.

“Goodbye, Celine.”

“Goodbye.” She was gone before Celine could even blink. In the distance, she could hear Eun-Ji start the car and drive off. Her brain screamed at her to leave the house and watch her disappear but her feet were stuck to the ground. She wanted to follow her. Her last friend. She last bit of family was gone. But she couldn’t. Instead, she remained stuck to the ground until she heard Rumi cry and rushed to her nursery.

—----------------------------------------

Remembering the last time she saw Eun-Ji always hurt. However, remembering it in front of the girls felt like a new level of pain. Maybe it was because of the pitiful looks they gave her or the way Zoey clearly wanted to burst out and hug her but was holding herself back. Taking a breath, Celine collected herself and straightened herself out again. Pity was the last thing she wanted from the girls, especially now. She told them the story because they asked but she didn’t want it to seem like she was—

Celine’s thoughts were cut off when Rumi launched herself forward and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. Her face buried into her shoulder like she had done all the time when she was younger and had a nightmare. Before Celine could even speak, Mira and Zoey moved forward too and hugged her as well.

“Girls–”

“No.” Rumi mumbled, face still buried, “Let us have this.” 

“Yeah.” Zoey grumbled, “We all need a hug after that story.”

Chuckling and holding back tears, Celine finally wrapped her arms around the three, “Okay. Okay, we can have a hug.”