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

Mira/Zoey POV as we finally get to the Your Idol performance!

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Okay yeah, Mira could see how the Saja Boys had managed to be a very real threat to the Honmoon in the other timeline. She says as much given that Jinu asked for feedback.

"It's catchy. Extremely catchy. And that choreo… you came up with that?"

Jinu shrugs, adopting a half-hearted and visibly self-deprecating smirk.

"I mean yeah, I suppose so. I mostly just watched human boy bands perform over the past decade or so and stole a bunch of shit from them."

Mira chuckles, because yeah, she'd noticed that. It would be kind of hard not to given she's HUNTR/X's visual and choreographer.

"Meh, it's all theft in some way. Dancing, singing, playing music. It all takes from those who came before. Human history is thousands of years long and there are only so many ways you can move a human body or notes you can hit with a human voice. You took inspiration and made it your own. That's no easy task."

Zoey jumps in then, nodding enthusiastically.

"Mira is right, Jinu! You made something really infectious there. As far as debut songs go, I'd say that's easily in my top five. It doesn't beat ours of course, but still, really good!"

Then, Zoey pauses and gives Rumi a confused look.

"Although… I don't quite understand what you meant about Jinu being too literal, Rumi. That whole song had a lot more double entendres in it then I was expecting. The subtext is like really, really horny!"

Huh, yeah. Now that Zoey mentioned it, Mira had heard it too. Sure, she'd been mostly focused on the choreography, but the lyrics were… well, they were pretty blatantly sexual weren't they? 'I need you to fill me up','You're all I can think of', 'I'm empty, you feed me'. And those were just a few examples.

Rumi though… is blinking owlishly at the claim.

"What? Horny?! What are you talking about Zoey, the song isn't about sex!"

Uh… what? Mira gives Rumi a confused look while Zoey does the same. Wait a moment… a slow grin spreads across Mira's face and she meets Zoey's eyes from around Rumi's head.

"I think our sheltered virgin missed the metaphors, Zoey."

Zoey lets out a laugh, even as Rumi sputters.

"Wha- h-hey! No I didn't! Tell them, Jinu!"

To Mira's surprise, when she looks to the handsome demon boy, he… actually looks just as confused as Rumi does. Furrowing his brow and rubbing the back of his head with his hand, Jinu frowns.

"Uh, I have to agree with Rumi. The song definitely isn't meant to be about sex. It's-!"

But before he can explain, Zoey beats him to it, gasping loudly and leaping to her feet as she points an accusatory finger at Jinu.

"WAIT A SECOND! IS SODA POP ABOUT EATING PEOPLE?!"

Huh? Its Mira's turn to furrow her brow (which she just as quickly stops doing to avoid crease lines) and go back over the lyrics of the song. After a moment, her eyes widen and her jaw drops open. Rumi, meanwhile, nods along smugly.

"See? He didn't even try to hide it. The entire song is literally about demons consuming humans. They need us to fill them up. We look like snacks to them. They just can't get enough of us. It's all right there. Literal, like I said!"

Jinu hangs his head sheepishly while nodding along with Rumi's words. Zoey looks flabbergasted.

"H-Holy shit… that's… that's genius."

Jinu's head snaps up.

"Huh?"

But Mira nods.

"Yeah, Zoey is right. That's honestly pretty clever. I don't know how I didn't get it immediately too. Sure I'm no lyricist, but I am a demon hunter and I know what you are. Feeling kind of dumb right now."

"That still doesn't explain Jinu making the horniest debut song I've heard in years and not even realizing it was horny!"

Zoey looks like she's ready to freak out over that part, causing Mira to snicker as Rumi and Jinu finally start to put the pieces together and realize all the 'double entendres' that Zoey was talking about. As Rumi's face gets redder and redder, Jinu groans and covers his face with his hands.

"That was… not intentional at all. It was just meant to be a catchy in-joke at most."

Slowly coming to terms with this, a poleaxed Zoey just shakes her head, clearly gobsmacked.

"… Alright, then I can sort of see where Rumi is coming from when she says you're a literal songwriter. Not the most literal in history though. And you honestly shouldn't throw stones in glass houses, Rumi."

Rumi squawks.

"Wha- hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

Zoey shares a look with her and Mira knows exactly what to say as they chorus along with one another.

""Golden!""

Their fearless leader doesn't even try to fight them on that; she just groans and puts her head in her hands. Mira shares a discreet high-five with Zoey over the top of Rumi's head, only to pull back just in time as she snaps back up.

"Oh but wait, there's more!"

"Billy Mays?!"

Everyone gives Zoey a weird look at that outburst, causing her to blush and giggle to herself.

"Sorry, American Joke. Continue, Rumi."

"Right… anyways, you guys haven't heard their second song yet! Now if you want to talk about a literal song, THAT is a literal song. Go on Jinu, show them the song from Namsan Tower next!"

Mira can't deny being curious. Soda Pop was good, so what would the follow up to the nonexistent Saja Boys' short career be? Zoey is the same way, leaning forward just like she is as they wait for Jinu to begin with bated breath.

Jinu though… he grimaces, frowning a little bit at Rumi.

"How do you even know what Your Idol sounds like, Rumi? You showed up way late in the performance, so it's not like you should know the lyrics…"

Rumi… goes beet red and mumbles something under her breath that none of them can hear. Jinu leans forward, eyes narrowing.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Throwing her hands in the air, Rumi growls.

"I said I was there for the whole performance, o-okay? I teleported back from Jeju just as you guys were getting started!"

Jinu stares.

"… The whole time?"

"Yes! I had to figure out how I was going to interrupt, you know. What I was going to say. What I was going to sing."

Rumi looks to Mira and Zoey and smiles slightly.

"It was just before we performed What It Sounds Like for the first time together. The lyrics mostly just flowed out of me once I got started, but first I had to figure out how to begin."

Mira nods slowly and sees Zoey doing the same. Honestly, performing What It Sounds Like up in the penthouse yesterday had been like a fever dream. The music really had just… flowed out of them. Like it was the song they were always meant to sing, the song that was made for the three of them.

Jinu huffs.

"So you heard it all and… what, just came in at the very end? As a professional courtesy?"

"N-No! I came in at the very end because you guys summoned Gwi-Ma to the human world and he was about to eat fifty thousand people including Mira, Zoey, and Bobby!"

Oof. Yeah okay, that sounded bad. And to his credit, Jinu winces hard.

"… Fair enough."

He looks around their small recording studio though and frowns again.

"We should probably move this back to the penthouse though. Your Idol used a lot more space than Soda Pop did."

Looking around as well, Rumi nods.

"Alright yeah, you've got a point. Let me just send Bobby the finished studio recordings of those HUNTR/X covers and then we can go."

"Oooh! Does this mean we can make some popcorn first?!"

"Sure Zoey, we can make some popcorn…"

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Zoey can't help but be a little excited as they sit down on the Couch™ with a bowl of popcorn and Jinu takes up position in front of them. Soda Pop had been good. Not amazing, maybe a little formulaic, but still pretty good.

Really, as far as debut songs went, you wanted formulaic. You wanted something catchy with an easily reproduced dance move like that shoulder bounce in order to draw as many fans in as possible.

In that regard, Jinu and the Saja Boys had succeeded beyond measure. But what would their second song sound like? What would it look like? From context clues alone, Zoey got the impression that this song was a bit of a victory lap. They'd done this performance after the HUNTR/X breakup in the other timeline, right?

Heh, why had they even needed to perform at that point? Hadn't they already won? Really- oh, it's starting!

Zoey's eyes widen in even greater excitement as the penthouse falls away and they're suddenly at the edge of the massive stage at Namsan Tower. This isn't the Idol Awards venue, no sir… this is better.

Looking around, Zoey sees that the stadium is packed to the gills with fans, all of them holding up Saja Boys Light Sticks. Fifty thousand just like Rumi had said. Meanwhile, there's a truly massive screen behind the stage with a stylized logo that could have either been a lion or a demon.

Clever really, considering Saja was the word for lion but Jinu and his constructs had all looked like Jeoseung Saja when he'd originally petitioned Gwi-Ma down in the demon realm.

"Pray for me now

Pray for me now, pray for me now (dies irae illa)

Pray for me now, pray for me now (vos solve in favillam)

Pray for me now, pray for me now (maledictus erus)

Pray for me now, pray for me now (in flammas aeternum)"

Suddenly, the music starts and Zoey faces forward again just in time to see the Saja Boys rise out of the floor of the stage looking exactly like Soul Collectors as well. Oh shit… they weren't even wearing human disguises anymore. No, they were full mask off at this point. This… this wasn't going to be anything like Soda Pop, was it?

Jinu and the others reach the apex of their little floating act… and Jinu lifts his head, his eyes glittering as he looks down and makes eye contact with the three of them in particular.

"I'll be your Idol."

Zoey would swear until the day she died that his voice reverberated through her very soul on that line. But she didn't have very long to contemplate it, because the song immediately leaps into it and... and she finds herself hanging off of every word.

"Keeping you in check (uh), keeping you obsessed (uh)

Play me on repeat 끝없이 in your head

Anytime it hurts (uh), play another verse (uh)

I can be your sanctuary"

Holy shit this is good. The lyrics… fuck, she almost wants to call for Jinu to pause the whole memory just so she can dissect every line. At the same time, she doesn't want him to stop, not even for a second.

"Know I'm the only one right now (now)

I will love you more when it all burns down

More than power (uh), more than gold (yeah)

Yeah, you gave me your heart, now I'm here for your soul"

Okay yeah, Rumi was right, these weren't exactly subtle lyrics. Given the context, it was actually very, very literal wasn't it?

"I'm thе only one who'll love your sins

Feel the way my voicе gets underneath your skin"

At the same time, Jinu is going crazy with it. Frankly, all of the Saja Boys are. Zoey's face is red hot and when she chances a glance at Mira and Rumi, they don't look much better. Rumi only has eyes for Jinu just like always, but Mira… Zoey has never seen Mira look more starstruck and stunned.

"Listen, 'cause I'm preachin' to the choir

Can I get the mic a little higher?

Gimme your desire

I can be the star you rely on (you rely on)

내 황홀에 취해, you can't look away (yeah)

Don't you know I'm here to save you?

Now we runnin' wild

Yeah, I'm all you need, I'ma be your idol"

And then shit gets really wild. Suddenly, the three of them are repositioned on the outer edge of the stage as Jinu and the rest of the Saja Boys teleport forward to right in front of them. The rapper of the group looks so… well, not nearly as 'cute and bubbly' as he did in Soda Pop, that's for sure. His deep voice suits him MUCH more now that he's dressed as the Korean equivalent of a Grim Reaper.

"Uh, 빛이 나는 fame, 계속 외쳐, "I'm your idol"

Thank you for the pain, 'cause it got me goin' viral

Uh, yeah, 낫지 않는 fever, makin' you a believer

나를 위해 넌 존재하는 아이들"

This is also when Gwi-Ma shows up and Zoey's heart clenches in fear and concern for all of the people in the stadium. But she calms herself down, remembering that it's all just… well, a memory. And more than that, the other versions of them had all saved the day in the end, led by Rumi into the original rendition of What It Sounds Like.

Keeping that in mind, Zoey focuses back on the song, biting her lower lip as Jinu stands right in front of the three of them, singing along with the rest of his boyband.

"Living in your mind now

Too late, 'cause you're mine now

I will make you free (I will make you free)

When you're all a part of me~"

He tilts his head back and gives them this grin that makes Zoey clench her thighs together, especially as the lighting flashes across his demonic face. Then, just as suddenly, he and the others are back on the main stage, floating back up into the air again.

"Preachin' to the choir

(Now) can I get the mic a little higher?

Gimme your desire

Watch me set your world on fire (world on fire)

내 황홀에 취해, you can't look away (yeah)

No one is coming to save you

Now we runnin' wild

You're down on your knees, I'ma be your idol!"

She'd get down on her knees for Demon Jinu any day. Demon Rumi too, hehehe… ooh, could Rumi do a full demon form? Was that a thing? What would it even look like?

Finally, the song comes to an end on an eerily familiar woman's cry from back at the front of the stadium. Zoey twists around to look, but Jinu cuts off the memory there, forcing her to instead look to the real Rumi.

"Was that you at the end, Rumi?!"

Rumi just blushes and nods, smiling slightly even as she continues to stare at Jinu. Jinu, who right now looks exactly like he did in the memory, complete Grim Reaper ensemble and everything. Silence reigns for a moment as Zoey tries to get her thoughts in order. Because… damn. Soda Pop was good, yeah. Perfect for a debut. But Your Idol? That shit was transcendent.

Before she can say as much though, Mira cuts in with a confused noise in the back of her throat.

"… At the end there… did you guys throw in a dab?"

Jinu furrows his brow as Zoey looks back in her memories and realizes Mira is right.

"Uh… yeah? Dabbing is an innate gesture of triumph in the modern era. I did my research, thank you very much."

Oh. Oh. Zoey has to cover her mouth with her hands to keep from bursting out laughing. Mira though, has no such compunctions because she's Mira.

"Holy shit! Even your memes are old!"

Jinu pouts and Zoey finally lets herself start to giggle. Just a little bit. As a treat.

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A/N: The dab at the end of Your Idol dates Jinu more than any of his Joseon Era stuff, let's be real.

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

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