A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next FIVE chapters are up on my Patreon for early access!

None of these girls are half as slick as they think they are.

-x-X-x-

"Come have breakfast with us?"

"… Only if you're sure you want me there."

"Don't start, I want you there. And so do Mira and Zoey as well. Remember, you had them put it to a vote so you can't complain anymore."

"I wasn't complaining…"

Smirking knowingly, feeling like she definitely won that argument, Rumi turns from Jinu to Derpy.

"Derpy, can you get me back to my bedroom real quick?"

The massive tiger yawns but nods and Rumi hurries over to climb on his back before he can start disappearing through the floor. As they depart, she makes sure to stare Jinu down.

"See you soon, Mister!"

Jinu just chuckles and nods, throwing her a lazy wave goodbye. Rumi grins, honestly feeling like a million won. A moment later and she's at the top of the tower in her bedroom thanks to Derpy. Hopping off of him, she makes sure to give the big affectionate lug a few skritches before pulling away.

Throwing on some new clothes, Rumi heads out into the hallway with every intention of cooking breakfast for everyone… only to freeze up when she runs into Mira stepping out of her own room looking sleepy and disheveled. There's also a weird scent in the air that Rumi can't quite place.

For some reason, the moment Mira sees her, she yelps and yanks her door shut, keeping Rumi from seeing into the room beyond. Then… they just kind of stare at one another for a long moment until finally, Rumi breaks the silence.

"Sorry… I was gonna make breakfast for us and Jinu if that's okay… I already sent him an invitation by text."

Mira's eyes flicker to Rumi's door for a moment, a frown sliding across her face for a few seconds before finally she gives a half-hearted shrug.

"Yeah. Fine by me. Zoey uh… slept over in my room last night. So I'll… get her up when you're ready for us."

Rumi slowly nods. Zoey and Mira had shared a bed last night… which was totally fine. Rumi already knew they did that sometimes and she'd even done it with them just the other night after they'd watched the Blade Trilogy together. So it wasn't anything weird.

Though now Rumi is catastrophizing just a little bit. Did Zoey check in with Rumi before she went to Mira? Did they know that Rumi hadn't been in her room or indeed anywhere in the penthouse last night? But then if they were worried, they would have texted her right?

… Unless they thought they knew where she was. Unless they had already figured out she was with Jinu. But then, they'd already caught her and Jinu kissing, so they had to know she had feelings for him, r-right? So then why was the idea of them knowing making Rumi feel all topsy-turvy right now?

"You uh… gonna head to the kitchen?"

Eep! Realizing she's been just standing there staring at Mira (though to be fair, Mira was staring back just as hard she's pretty sure!) Rumi hastily nods.

"Y-Yeah! Yep! You focus on getting Zoey up and ready for food in the next thirty or s-so minutes!"

"R-Right. W-Will do!"

See? It wasn't only awkward for her; Mira was also stuttering for some reason! Though that in and of itself was pretty weird, Mira almost never stuttered…

Putting it out of her mind, Rumi hurries to the kitchen and starts throwing things together. She's been cooking since she was young, having stood side by side with Celine on a stool at the kitchen counter so they could prepare food together.

Even if the amount of money HUNTR/X brought in meant that they could have literally any food they wanted delivered to them at any time of the day, there was a reason the penthouse had a personal kitchen and that it was always fully stocked.

Jinu arrives about ten minutes later by way of the elevator and gives Rumi a smile that warms her heart as he comes into the kitchen.

"Can I help?"

"Sure! Here, chop these."

He takes what she gives him and gets to work. From there, everything starts to come together and soon the smell of fresh home cooking begins to waft through the penthouse.

Two minutes from plating everything, Rumi clears her throat and calls to the hall.

"Mira! Zoey! Breakfast is ready!"

She's glad she does it early, because it's five minutes after she and Jinu have carried breakfast over to the table that Mira and Zoey finally come out of Mira's room. They look… a little flushed and a little tired, and for some reason they aren't meeting her eyes.

Maybe that's just because they're both staring so hard at the food though?

"This looks amazing, thanks Rumi."

"Yeah, after last night I'm starving."

Rumi tilts her head to the side at Zoey's words.

"Last night?"

Both Zoey and Mira freeze up for a moment… before Mira lets out a laugh.

"We sparred a bit before bed. Had some excess energy to work off, that's all."

"Y-Yeah, just went a little too hard is all, so too tired to snack before falling asleep!"

Oh. That made sense. She thinks?

"Let's dig in, this food all looks too good to waste!"

Right. All of them sit down and Rumi can't help but smile when she sees everyone, both her girls and Jinu, enjoying the hell out of her cooking. It feels really, really good to just get to sit here like this, the four of them together. No more lies, no more secrets.

Rumi doesn't consider her relationship with Jinu to be one of those, after all. Mira and Zoey should know she has feelings for him. And it's not like the two of them have done anything beyond kissing and cuddling at this point! Honestly, Rumi's not quite sure how to go about trying for more than that… she might have to ask Mira and Zoey for their advice on that front.

Oh! Now there's an idea…

"So, girls!"

Both Mira and Zoey freeze up like they've been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, making Rumi furrow her brow in consternation. But she plows on after a moment all the same.

"I was thinking, now that things are finally starting to calm down and Celine has Bobby looking after her… maybe the three of us could finally go to the bathhouse?"

Naturally, Rumi expects excitement. As far as their trips to the bathhouse are concerned, Rumi has been blowing off their invitations for as long as Mira and Zoey have known her. And just two nights back when they'd had their sleepover, both girls had been thrilled by the thought that they could finally go to the bathhouse with Rumi.

Which is why she's so confused when, instead of getting elated or showing any kind of enthusiasm now, the two… just sit there frozen for a moment before exchanging a quick look between themselves. When they turn back to her, they don't look nearly as eager as Rumi would have thought…

"I mean… are things really calmed down?"

"Right? Like sure we got Celine moved to the Tower, but that doesn't mean everything is resolved."

"Not to mention we haven't completed the Rainbow Honmoon yet."

"Oh! Yeah, totally need to get that figured out sooner rather than later so we can perform at the Idol Awards without worrying about accidentally turning the whole thing golden or whatever!"

Rumi's eyes dart back and forth between her fellow hunters even as it feels like her heart has dropped into the depths of her stomach. On the one hand, they're making a lot of sense. On the other hand… she's not completely oblivious. She can tell when her best friends are making excuses.

But why are they suddenly against going to the bathhouse with her? What… what did she do wrong?

So caught up in her own thoughts, Rumi doesn't notice that both Mira and Zoey see she's not taking their excuses well, nor does she notice how they both look guilty for a moment. But she definitely does notice them rallying, eating the rest of their respective breakfasts in three bites apiece, and rising from the table almost in unison.

"Speaking of which, I need to go refresh on our Golden Choreo for the Idol Awards."

"And I need to do some last minute tuning in the studio!"

"Let us know if you need us for the Rainbow Honmoon or whatever."

"Yeah, we'll come right away!"

And just like that… they're gone, making for the elevator. Rumi has plenty of time to call out to them. And she wants to as well. But… she doesn't. She just watches them leave, wondering what she did wrong. It wasn't her patterns… was it? But then what could it be? Why did it feel like she'd somehow lost them in the span of a single night?

"Rumi? You okay?"

Jinu's concerned voice pulls her out of her own thoughts but as she looks over to him, Rumi can't hold it in. Tears prick at her eyes and she starts to sniffle.

"Jinu… I-I don't know what I did to drive them away. What did I do wrong?"

She doesn't exactly expect him to have an answer for her, of course. He's a four hundred year old demon from the Joseon Era, after all. Which makes it all the more surprising when he snorts in derisive amusement.

"I doubt this one is on you."

He sounds so confident… Rumi narrows her eyes and really looks at him, glaring through unshed tears.

"What are you talking about? What do you know?"

Jinu raises an eyebrow and reaches up to tap his nose.

"Can't you smell it? Hell, more than smell it… couldn't you see it?"

Smell it? See it? What was he even talking about? Sure, there was that weird scent earlier that had been lingering in the air since Derpy brought her back to the penthouse, but it had been pretty much entirely overwhelmed by the scents of breakfast. And Rumi didn't really know what she was supposed to have seen either…

Jinu peers at her for a moment… and then lets out a laugh before smirking knowingly. Rumi's eyes widen at his obnoxious display.

"You! What do you think you're doing?! I'm having a fucking crisis here and you're laughing at me! Jinu! Explain!"

First, he hums for a moment… and then puts on an exaggerated face and rolls his eyes while affecting a voice.

"God you're so sheltered."

Rumi flushes hard… before stiffening and gasping.

"W-Wait! Was that supposed to be your impression of ME?! From the future where I called you old?!"

Smirking evilly, Jinu shrugs.

"Maybe."

Okay, that was it. Rumi growls and leaps across the table. Jinu yelps and goes wide eyed even as he teleports out of her grasp at the last possible second, appearing a few feet away in the kitchen.

"Whoa Rumi, chill ou-!"

But Rumi will not chill out. She gives chase and Jinu has to teleport a second time to escape her lunging. This results in a game of cat and mouse across the penthouse… but Rumi has Jinu's number soon enough. He might have better mobility than her, but she has way more training and despite his teleportation, he's clearly not a real fighter.

The end result is that Rumi pins Jinu to the floor without much issue after a couple of action-packed minutes, holding him in place with a growl…

"Talk."

Jinu hums as he lays back, staring up at her.

"I don't know… if I don't, what're you gonna do to me? Torture me?"

Rumi huffs… and then pulls out her ultimate weapon. Pouty Puppy Dog Eyes.

"Please, Jinu?"

His eyes widen in response and his mouth opens in a small 'o' for a second before he lets out a disbelieving laugh.

"Oh, now that is a dangerous technique. Okay, okay. I'll tell you, just… let me up so we can talk like normal people."

Rumi considers that for a second before shaking her head and promptly sitting cross-legged on his chest.

"I don't wanna. Now talk."

Jinu gives her an incredulous look, but Rumi just crosses her arms over her chest imperiously and looks down at him with a raised brow.

"… Tch. Fine, but you brought this on yourself, okay? Basically… Mira and Zoey had sex last night."

Rumi freezes… and then growls as she promptly punches Jinu in the chest.

"Ow! Fuck that hurts!"

"Don't joke like that!"

"I'm not joking, sheesh! They definitely had sex. I could smell it from the moment I walked into the penthouse and that's with you already cooking. And did you see the way they looked? The way they were acting? Oh yeah, they totally went at it last night."

… Oh.

That was… damn, he was right. Rumi stares off into the distance for a moment, just processing this revelation. Because yeah, now that Jinu mentions it… well, she doesn't exactly know what 'two girls just had sex' would smell like, but she does know there was a weird smell this morning, something she'd never smelled in the penthouse before.

And Mira and Zoey… they were acting so weird with her this morning. But if they had just got together for the first time last night, then that could explain it. Maybe… maybe it really didn't have anything to do with her after all!

"Oh what a relief…"

Jinu chuckles.

"See? Told you it wasn't your fault. They're probably just still working up the courage to let you know they want you in the same way."

Wait what. Rumi almost punches Jinu for joking with her again… only to pause when she realizes he's dead serious.

"… Jinu what are you talking about? Mira… Zoey… they don't like me like that."

Furrowing his brow, Jinu grunts.

"Uh… yeah they do."

When Rumi just looks at him incredulously, Jinu rolls his eyes.

"Seriously? I spied on you guys, you know. I learned you three inside and out. You might not be ready to acknowledge it, but I guarantee that they are. Besides, the three of you are just like the noblewomen I played for back when I was a human."

Rumi squawks.

"N-Noblewomen?!"

Jinu slowly nods and looks around them, as if to say 'uh yeah, have you seen how you fucking live?' which in turn makes Rumi go bright red. Okay she kind of saw how he had a point… actually, she was starting to realize he might just be right about all of it.

Shit… Mira and Zoey… did they really feel that way about her? And why did the thought make her chest so tight? She couldn't possibly be… n-no, and it didn't matter if she was because she…

"It… it doesn't matter, Jinu. I want to be with you. I… I have feelings for you."

Her lower lip wobbles and suddenly Rumi isn't sitting on Jinu's chest anymore. Quite abruptly, she finds herself sitting in his lap instead as he holds her with his arms loosely around her.

"Yeah, if the first kiss didn't clue me into that, the next one and then the cuddling would have. Not to worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Rumi shudders in relief even as she bites her lower lip in worry. Because this was a bad situation if she-

"I don't see why I need to get in the way anyways. I'm much lower class than you and your girls are. They should accept you taking me as a consort, no? That way the three of you can still have each other, as hunters should."

… What.

-x-X-x-

A/N: I'm just not really interested in spending 5-10 chapters being all angsty based on misunderstandings, so we're nipping that angst in the bud right quick so we can get to the fun parts.

And yes, Jinu is very much a mixed bag of dorky and dumb but also surprisingly aware at times. To him, Rumi and her girls being together is just… obvious. He also might have strange ideas on how relationships in the modern era work.

Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comment helps me shape a story like this one!

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