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

How'd they figure it out?!

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Fuck. Mira was really hoping that Zoey would laugh at her and tell her she was talking crazy. She definitely didn't want the other girl to instantly agree with her and sound relieved, like she'd managed to come to the exact same conclusion. Because if both her and Zoey had managed to reach this point separately… they were so fucking screwed.

"Okay, okay…"

Zoey sits up in bed excitedly and Mira does the same with a low groan. The younger hunter crosses her legs while Mira keeps hers splayed out and plants her hands on the bed on either side of her as she looks at her excitable bandmate.

"Man, where do we even begin? Oh, I know! We should really make sure we're on the same page about the most important thing here first… what do YOU think a half-demon is?"

Huh? What does she think a half-demon is? It's pretty obvious right? Except then she realizes… Celine never actually explained what a half-demon was, she just confirmed their existence. So Mira could have made an incorrect assumption or two. Only one way to find out…

"Well… a half-demon is the inbetween state for a human who has made a deal with Gwi-Ma and the demon they eventually become… right?"

Judging by the look on Zoey's face, that's not the definition she had in mind at all. To Mira though, it makes perfect sense. They'd just found out that some demons had once been human. And Celine mentioned how she believed half-demons would be 'cured' of their demonic parts if they didn't give in and stayed true to their humanity. So half-demons being the halfway point between mistake and eternal damnation tracked for Mira.

Zoey definitely doesn't agree though. In fact, she even sounds a little… small as she bites her lower lip and looks at Mira with big, glistening eyes.

"You really think Rumi would make a deal with Gwi-Ma?"

Mira opens her mouth… and then clicks it shut. Frowning, she looks away for a moment, eyebrows drawn into an uncertain furrow.

"… I don't know what Rumi is capable of at this point Zo. Especially not if she's been lying to us for years about this…"

"Not just years. More like her entire life, I'm pretty sure."

Wait, what? Mira's eyes snap back to Zoey who smiles crookedly.

"See, I'm fairly certain that half-demons are born from humans and demons having sex, Mira. And that's why I'm so confident that Rumi is one."

Born with it? But that would mean…

"You're saying Rumi's mother banged a demon?!"

Zoey cringes and glances to the nearest wall, making Mira flush a little bit too. Fortunately the penthouse was built of pretty sturdy materials. Not quite soundproofed, but voices didn't carry through the walls or anything like that. Doubly fortunately, the bedrooms were set up so that Rumi was at one end and Mira was at the other, meaning their rooms didn't share a wall because Zoey's was in the middle of them.

Still… Mira grimaces in apology and lowers her voice, speaking a bit quieter even as she repeats herself.

"You're saying that Rumi's mom, Mi-yeong of the Sunlight Sisters, had sex with a demon."

Zoey nods slowly.

"Yes. And no, I don't know how that's supposed to work anymore than you do. Jinu seems to be a good demon, but if the Honmoon had ever given another demon their soul back before now, Celine would have probably already heard about it."

Yeah. But then that begged the question…

"So then why are you so sure?"

Puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms over her chest, Zoey very cutely looks affronted at the incredulity and disbelief in Mira's voice. Luckily, the adorable act doesn't last long. Unluckily, she immediately transitions into another adorable act, one where she switches to lecture mode and brings up a finger.

"First. Rumi's dad has never been identified. Think about that for a second, Mira. The Sunlight Sisters might not have been as popular as us, but that was only because of the limitations of technology at the time. They were still insanely popular for their era, especially in a time before the internet and social media really got the chance to take off like it has in the last two and a half decades."

Mira nods slowly, following so far.

"Mi-yeong dies under mysterious, likely hunter-related circumstances shortly after giving birth to Rumi. And yeah, obviously Celine buries the details, but she still presents Rumi to the entire world as Mi-yeong's daughter. And she refuses to tell ANYONE who Rumi's father was. Do you know how many Sunlight Sisters fans have tried to hunt him down? Do you have any idea how many thousands of hours and millions of won have been poured into that endeavor?"

Her mouth opens… and then closes. Finally, she just shakes her head. Zoey smiles rather wanly, leaving Mira to wonder how much Zoey herself might have looked into things. She wasn't oblivious to the other girl's past as a Sunlight Sister super-fan after all.

"A lot. The most plausible theory that anyone has ever come up with is that the Sunlight Sister's old manager is the father, but he died too and there's never been any evidence connecting him and Mi-yeong in a romantic way. So yeah, Rumi's dad being a demon? Her mother and father having some sort of forbidden romance? Rumi growing up all her life as a half-demon? It's more likely than you'd think."

Mira rolls her eyes at the meme.

"I assume you have more than that…"

Zoey just grins and nods.

"Oh yeah, I do. The lyrics, Mira. Look at the lyrics!"

The lyrics? To what? Mira furrows her brow in consternation until finally Zoey takes pity on her.

"Golden, Mira. Think about Rumi's lyrics in Golden!"

Oh. Oh shit. Realization must be spreading across Mira's face because Zoey is grinning wider and wider as she nods along.

"Yuuuup. Golden, the song about completing the Golden Honmoon. The thing that Celine is convinced will 'cleanse' half-demons of the demonic parts of themselves. The song where Rumi sings…

Zoey keeps her voice low and obviously doesn't hit the higher notes like their leader can, but she quickly and softly sings out Rumi's lines from the song, the oh so damning lyrics washing over Mira like a wave.

"Oh, I'm done hidin', now I'm shinin' like I'm born to be

Oh, our time, no fears, no lies"

And once she's done that part, she goes onto Rumi's next part.

"No more hiding, I'll be shining like I'm born to be

'Cause we are hunters, voices strong, and I know I believe"

Panting by the time we're done, Zoey's face is a little flushed as she stares at Mira, wide eyed.

"It's literally right there in front of us. Fuck, I knew Rumi could be blunt with her songwriting, but this is ridiculous. She's talking about not having to hide anymore after the Golden Honmoon is enacted. How she'll be 'shining' like she was born to be. No more fears. No more lies. Because she was born as a half-demon and raised by Celine to hide it. Even from us."

Zoey shakes her head and lets out a shaky breath before adding on almost as an afterthought…

"Oh and she clearly believes Celine's theory that the Golden Honmoon will 'save' her from her demon half."

Mira stares right back… before groaning and covering her face with her palms.

"Fuuuck… you're right it's so obvious. Am I stupid or something?"

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Zoey squawks at Mira calling herself stupid, immediately reaching out and grabbing the other girl's hands to drag them away from her face. And if she keeps holding Mira's hands after that… well it's just some platonic skinship between besties, right?

"You're NOT stupid, Mira. I only really figured this out because lyrics are literally my thing. Not to mention being a Sunlight Sisters fangirl since as long as I can remember."

Mira hums for a moment… before shaking her head.

"I still should have thought about it harder before just writing off Rumi of all people as having made a deal with Gwi-Ma. Shit, given what tipped me off to her secret, it doesn't even really make sense…"

Zoey blinks… before leaning in close, suddenly incredibly intrigued.

"Oh yeah, what was it for you? Obviously you didn't think about the father thing or the Golden lyrics, so what made you ask me if I thought Rumi was a half-demon in the first place?"

Mira presses her lips tightly together for a moment before huffing out a breath as she answers.

"Her hair."

Zoey tilts her head to the side, thinking back to Rumi's gorgeous, beautiful purple braid.

"Her… hair?"

Raising an eyebrow, Mira smirks.

"Really Zoey? Think about it. Rumi's hair is naturally purple."

Wait what? No! There was just… no!

"It… it can't be. She has to dye it like you dye yours… right?"

Mira just shakes her head.

"Zoey, you know full well what I go through to keep my hair the same color of pink all the time. You even help me out with it sometimes."

Nodding, Zoey bites her lower lip.

"Yeah but… I mean, I help you because you want my help. Rumi would… never let us see her in the bathroom naked. So it makes sense she has to do it alone… right?"

"But where's all of the product? For hair as long as Rumi's, she would go through so much shit every time that there would be multiple trash bags. Trust me Zoey… her hair is naturally purple. The same purple as demon patterns. And it has been for as long as either of us can remember, hasn't it?"

Zoey swallows thickly, eyes wide as she thinks back and begins to shake her head in disbelief.

"… longer. There are lots of pictures of Rumi as a kid. Celine introduced her to the industry young, probably paving the way for her. She's always had that same color of purple hair. No deviations. You… you're right. Fuck, maybe I'm the stupid one."

Because seriously… sure Zoey had never really bothered caring too much about her hair. Not like Mira and Rumi did. She didn't want it dyed and she didn't grow it long to braid it religiously like Rumi. She was happy being the short-haired maknae of their group because it honestly made it a lot easier to take care of herself. If her hair was any longer, it would be a total rat's nest.

Still, just because she didn't care about hair in the same way the others did didn't mean she shouldn't have seen what was right in front of her eyes all along!

"Hey. Fuck that. Don't talk down to yourself. You're not stupid, you're just focused, got it?"

Zoey blushes as Mira comes to her defense against her own self-recriminations. That was so like her. Shrugging half-heartedly, she just bites her lower lip.

"Anything besides the hair on your end?"

"… Yeah. I'm pretty sure Rumi definitely has demon patterns. And they're spreading. That's why I initially thought she made a deal with Gwi-Ma, because I didn't think about how she's had natural purple hair all her life and that sort of precludes a demon deal. I just thought that… well, obviously she hasn't had demon patterns all her life. Or at least, they weren't as bad as they are now."

Zoey's blood runs cold.

"Bad as they are now? What do you mean?"

"Her costumes, Zo. Think back over the years. She used to show a lot more of her neck and arms, even bits of her shoulders and upper chest. But when was the last time you saw Rumi in anything but a turtleneck or a sweater and high-neck top?"

Fuck…

"Even in the middle of the summer, she wears multiple layers of clothes. And all of her costumes, including the one for Golden, cover her from her neck down to her wrists and waist. I guarantee that's where the demon patterns are."

Swallowing hard, Zoey grips harder on Mira's hands.

"And… and you think they've been getting worse?"

Mira slowly nods back.

"… Yeah. I do."

Oh no. Zoey's lower lips starts to wobble and her eyes start to burn. She tries to fight it, tries to hold it in, but she can't. Until finally, the tears start to fall as Mira drags her into her chest and holds her tight. Zoey clings to the other girl, sobbing for what feels like an eternity.

All her life, Rumi has been dealing with this shit. And all the time they've known her, she's been hiding it from them, lying to them. That'd be bad enough… but the realization that it's getting worse is… just awful.

As Mira rubs soothing circles into her back, she lets out a breathless sigh.

"… Guess we know why she wanted to release Golden so early. If you're right that Celine has always known… then she told Rumi the only way to stop hiding from us was by achieving the Golden Honmoon."

A burst of anger runs through Zoey at that, all of it directed at Celine. Which sucks in its own way, because Celine was… well, she wasn't Zoey's favorite among the Sunlight Sisters, but she'd still always thought the world of her. And she'd always thought Celine was amazing for raising Rumi all by herself. Now…

Slowly getting herself back under control, Zoey pulls back from Mira, sniffling a little bit and wiping her eyes.

"S-Sorry about that."

"Apology not accepted. Because you have nothing to apologize for, dumbass."

Zoey can't help it… Mira's caustic sass causes her to hiccup out a laugh. Judging by the smirk on the other girl's face, that was precisely what she intended to. And she doesn't stop either.

"You know… if anything, the smile should have clued us in first."

Blinking, Zoey furrows her brow.

"… The smile?"

Nodding, Mira's smirk widens.

"Think about it. Rumi has a great stage smile… but sometimes her smile is this really weird, creepy thing. You know, like the stewardess on that jet we trashed the other week. I remember when Rumi mentioned her 'smiling all weird' as one of the ways she knew she was a demon, I thought to myself 'you're one to talk'."

A giggle bubbles up from Zoey's lips.

"Ohmygod you're right. She does smile so weird sometimes. Like when we found out she released Golden early and she just kept grinning at us! Total, hehe, demon behavior…"

Mira chuckles. Zoey giggles. And after a moment, the tightness in both of their chests eases just a bit. Not entirely though. At least not for Zoey.

"Mira… how mad are you at Rumi right now?"

Because Zoey knows Mira. And she can also feel some of the other hunter's feelings through the Honmoon. Mira stiffens up… and then sighs.

"Right now? I'm furious. She lied to us Zo. For the entire time we've known her. But… I guess I get it too. If I'd been in her shoes and had Celine breathing down my neck to keep it hidden and work towards a solution like the Golden Honmoon, then I'd probably have lied too. And I hate that. Fuck do I hate that."

Zoey slowly nods. She's not sure she could have kept up the lie as long as Rumi has… but then again, Celine could be VERY intimidating, so who knows. Either way…

"The Golden Honmoon isn't going to help Rumi though. Jinu said so. Is that why the Honmoon sent him here? Because it was afraid that we would hurt Rumi if we completed the Golden Honmoon? That Rumi would hurt herself?"

Mira inhales sharply, eyes widening.

"Shit… you might be right. But then what do we do?"

Zoey bites her lower lip again.

"I don't… I don't think I can picture myself helping to complete the Golden Honmoon if it has even a remote chance of hurting Rumi."

She waits with bated breath for Mira's reaction. But far from getting angry, the pink-haired hunter just nods.

"Me neither."

Relief pours through every inch of Zoey's body at that. Mira might be angry at Rumi for lying to them, but she wasn't going to abandon her. She wasn't going to abandon them. Still…

"I dunno what to do. Confront her first thing tomorrow morning? Stay quiet and hope she'll come to us?"

Mira frowns… before finally shaking her head.

"We need to talk to Jinu. He's our only proper source of information at this point, seeing as Celine has gaslit herself into believing what she wants to believe and taken Rumi right along with her."

Zoey isn't sure she likes that. Part of her wants to just tell Rumi they know already. Rip it off like a band-aid so they can get right to solving things. But then she finds herself imagining that conversation and every part of her screams 'hell no!'.

Finally, she just swallows and nods.

"Y-Yeah. We'll… find a way to get Jinu alone and talk to him then. See what he has to say."

With a plan of sorts made, they both lay back down. Zoey feels so wired though, like she's never going to be able to sleep. Only, as she stares into Mira's eyes, the empty space where Rumi should be laying between them like always… the weight of the day's events and revelations catches up to her in short order.

Before she knows it, her eyes are drifting shut. The last thing Zoey sees before she falls asleep is Mira closing her eyes as well. The last thing she feels is Mira's fingers in her own as they both, half-asleep, reach across the empty space between them and hold hands.

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A/N: So in this chapter when Zoey and Mira are discussing the lyrics of Golden, the lines Rumi sings in her dressing room during the movie might seem like they would have been more appropriate for Zoey to psycho-analyze here

"Waited so long to break these walls down

To wake up and feel like me

Put these patterns all in the past now

And finally live like the girl they all see"

However, as I was writing this chapter I realized… those lines aren't actually a part of the in-universe version of Golden. They do not get sung at the Idol Awards because even Rumi wouldn't be so obvious as to put the mention of her having patterns in a song haha. So yeah, that's why they're not mentioned in this chapter. Luckily there's more than enough for a lyricist like Zoey to put together the dots anyways.

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

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