Chapter Text
“Mira!” Zoey yelped. “Why did you slam the tablet down?”
“There was a demon in it. Had to be destroyed.”
“It wasn’t a demon,” Zoey puffed out her cheeks as she checked her screen for cracks. “It was a snowman!”
“Technically, it was the long-dead ghost of Jack Frost actively possessing a snowman,” Rumi added, looking just as uncomfortable as Mira.
“Whatever it was, it’s gone now. You’re welcome,” Mira shrugged.
“I know the snowman dad looks…”
“-like he wants to feed our souls to Gwi-ma?” Mira offered.
“Not a demon, Mira! I was going to say ‘weird’. Anyway, the story is actually very sweet… if you can get past the snowman’s face,” Zoey defended.
“I can’t.”
“Honestly?” Rumi smiled guiltily. “Same. I think that face is what I will actually need that therapy for.”
“Fine, I will accept the movie veto,” Zoey threw her hands up in surrender. “Just keep in mind, I will only allow one veto this entire trip. So… are you sure this is the one you want to use it on? Don’t just say veto without thinking very carefully about-”
Rumi and Mira don’t even have to look at each other to both answer in perfect harmony.
“Veto.”
~*~
The flight was, thankfully, as uneventful as one could hope. No demons to tear the plane apart, and more importantly, no attempt from Zoey’s eomma to take down Mira and Rumi. Sure, her eyes could occasionally be felt boring into them from across the aisle, causing the hairs on the back of Rumi’s neck to raise. However, no attempts on their lives had occurred, and Rumi would take that as a win.
Mira had clearly also been on edge from it, because at one point, sometime between the movies and the restless naps, she grilled Zoey for life and death information that they needed to know.
Has your eomma ever killed someone before? No, of course not!
Are you sure? Yes. …Unless- nah, no way.
What about your dad? Is he going to threaten us with a shotgun like the dad’s on American TV shows threaten the daughter’s boyfriend? My dad? He could never. He hates guns.
That last one dropped a heavy fear from the shoulders from both of the older women. They had clearly both been worried about that one. Having seen their reaction, Zoey had laughed at them, and would recount stories of when she brought her first partner home. Despite the scary-father trope in American media, her father had immediately tried befriending her partner. Of course, Seo-yeon had been the one to let the partner know that, with her skill sets, it would be very unwise if they were to do something to hurt Zoey.
All Rumi could think was how thankful she was that they only had to navigate one parental threat on their trip.
Once the plane had landed, the six of them already felt exhausted. They dragged themselves out the plane, through the luggage claim, and into the bright Burbank sun. Bobby had pointed out a sign being held by a particularly bored looking man, mentioning that he had made sure there was a ride ready to take them to Zoey’s dad’s place. Mira had helped the man load up their extensive collection of luggage into the back of the van while Zoey had started texting her dad, giving him a heads up to their impending arrival. Celine and Bobby were caught up in their own conversation about logistics, which left Rumi open prey to the shark-eyed woman who had saddled up beside her. Rumi already felt a prickle of sweat threatening to break out as she pulled her sleeve hems down.
“Ryu Rumi, was it?” Seo-yeon asked casually… too casually.
“Yes,” Rumi answered, summoning all her idol training to keep her voice from shaking. “But you can call me Rumi.”
“Alright, Rumi,” Seo-yeon scanned her head to toe. “You can just call me Seo-yeon. Or Eomma, but I assume that would get confusing with Celine here.”
Rumi nearly recoiled, but managed to catch herself. She didn’t catch her ears from tinting red at the offer, though.
“I- appreciate it. Whichever you prefer is fine, really. Celine doesn’t have me call her Eomma, so it won’t be confusing,” Rumi rubbed her neck. “Which do you prefer I call you? I mean, we did just meet, so I would hate to make you feel- uncomfortable with calling you, um… Eomma.”
Seo-yeon’s brow seemed to tick up at the information about Celine before answering, “Seo-yeon is fine if you are uncomfortable with the title. But from all the praise Celine and Bobby had to say about you, I wouldn’t mind one day you calling me Eomma.”
“Wait, what did Celine say about-”
Rumi cleared her throat, her brain catching up to her gut-reaction and trying to reign herself back in, “I mean… I appreciate it. And I just want you to know that Mira and I love Zoey, and we will do everything we can to do right by her. So, I hope we make you proud as your daughter’s partners.”
Seo-yeon finally, slowly, allowed an amused smile to creep across her face before breaking into a fit of laughter, “My, they weren’t joking about you, were they?”
“W-what?” Rumi faltered.
“You are extremely polite. It’s sweet, though.” Seo-yeon nudged her arm with a mischievous look and said, “You can loosen up. I promise I’ve never killed anyone. When I do, it won’t be when we are on a Christmas vacation.”
Rumi’s face went red as her head sank between her shoulders, realizing Seo-yeon clearly had heard Mira’s interrogation of Zoey on the plane.
“O-oh, of course. Sorry, we didn’t actually think- I mean…”
Seo-yeon just started laughing at her reaction before giving her a gentle pat on her back, “It’s okay, really! I’m just glad I haven’t lost my edge of scaring my daughter’s partners in line. I look forward to getting to know you two in time.”
With that she walked over to get in the car, leaving Rumi frozen in place. Celine passed her a confused look from the distance, only increasing Rumi’s embarrassment. Despite the heat, she yanked her hood down over her face as much as she could as she tried to regain her composure.
Once everything was loaded up, everyone shuffled inside the vehicle and headed on their way. Mira and Zoey had tried pestering Rumi on why her face was so flushed, but one look at Seo-yeon’s gleaming eyes in the rear-view mirror only caused Rumi to blush worse and sink further into her seat.
Rumi had just gotten the conversation out of her mind by the time the van pulled to a stop in front of a small, yellow house. They all climbed out, and while the driver unloaded their suitcases, Rumi took in the sight of the home. It was completely overrun in what was likely thousands of Christmas lights flickering in a randomized pattern. The yard was just as exuberant. It was filled to the brim with flashing candy cane in the ground, a goofy cartoon playing on a screen, and an inflatable snow globe with a particularly ugly snowman that reminded Rumi of a particular cursed movie from their flight. A sign even sat in the front with some radio station written on it, right beside the driveway containing a large RV that was likely their temporary home for the next few days.
“Woah, your dad really gets into the Christmas spirit, huh?” Mira mused.
“Oh, we all do,” Zoey grinned cheekily. “This is nothing compared to what’s to come!”
“I don’t know if I should be excited or afraid of that thought,” Rumi frowned.
“Both,” Zoey confirmed.
“Well, I love it!” Bobby announced as he rounded the car to their side. “Your dad clearly has the best decorated house on the street.”
“One hundred percent,” Zoey nodded sagely.
As if having summoned him, the door of the RV burst open, and a large, red-headed man stepped out holding a box of cleaning supplies. He was tall enough to dwarf everyone here, which was saying something with Mira in the mix.
“Dad!” Zoey immediately bolted towards him.
The man’s blue eyes shot up at the voice and the sight immediately lit up his freckled face. He dropped the box of supplies just fast enough to catch Zoey, spinning her dramatically in circles and laughing.
“There’s my little turtle!” the man guffawed from under his trimmed beard. “You made it!”
“And everyone else did, too!” Zoey exclaimed as began to drag him over to the now fully formed group. “Everyone, this is my dad, Shawn Choi!”
Mira’s eyebrows drew together in confusion, “Choi?”
Shawn laughed as he nodded, “Yeah, I took Seo-yeon’s last name when we got married. After we split, I kept it. It was either that, or go back to my original last name, which would have been terrible. Plus, I didn’t want to stop sharing the name of my daughter!”
“What was your last name?” Rumi asked with a tilt of her head.
“Rumi,” Celine tossed her a warning look, causing Rumi to flinch. “Don’t be-”
“Cox,” Seo-yeon smiled mischievously.
Everyone’s heads whipped towards the holiday-decked woman in shock.
“P-pardon,” Bobby’s voice broke, “but did you just say-”
“His last name was Cox, spelled c-o-x,” Seo-yeon’s grin grew wider. “There is a reason I wouldn’t take his name years ago.”
“Damn, Seo-yeon!” Shawn sighed, throwing a hand to his forehead in a fake faint. “Throw me under the bus already. Couldn’t even allow me to be cool and mysterious for two minutes?”
“Dad- you are anything but mysterious,” Zoey mocked, poking him in the ribs. “Anyway, let me introduce you to the others. This is Celine, Rumi’s guardian. This is Mira, my girlfriend. And this is Rumi, my other girlfriend.”
Shawn, who had been shaking the hand of each of them upon introduction, paused with a chuckle at Rumi.
“Ah, yes! You were the girlfriend who was practically shaking Zoey down for a schedule, right?”
Rumi’s red cheeks had returned for the second time that day from one of Zoey’s parents. She was clearly not doing a very bang up job at making a good first impression on either parent. Zoey, the wonderful girlfriend she was, didn’t make Rumi suffer long as she diverted the fathers attention away.
“And of course this is Bobby, our amazing manager!” Zoey gave a flourish towards Bobby.
“Oh, this is the infamous Bobby, huh?” Shawn’s face somehow brightened even more as he shook Bobby’s hand. “I’ve heard so much of what you have done for the girls. I should thank you for taking good care of my little turtle.”
Bobby gave a wavering chuckle as he waved his free hand in the air frantically, “No need to thank me! Just doing my job! And my girls- our girls- I mean your girl and Rumi and Mira… they are a dream to work with.”
“Still, I know my daughter takes after our crazy ways. I’m sure you have had your hands full more than once. Takes a lot to manage a Choi.”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Plus, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Bobby assured, though Rumi was sure she noticed a tint of pink starting to grace Bobby’s ears.
The handshake was still going, even as the conversation lulled, but the driver’s deep voice caused it to drop.
“Your bags are out. I’ll be on my way now.”
“Right!” Bobby clapped his hands before pulling out his wallet. Placing a hundred in the man’s hand, he gave a cheerful, “Thank you for the safe drive, sir. Have a great holiday!”
The man, seeming shocked at the large tip, suddenly seemed a bit more chipper. He offered his first smile, gave a polite farewell, and drove away.
“Alright, there is one more party member on this trip left to introduce before we get started!” Shawn said.
Rumi and Mira tossed each other a confused glance. An eighth person crammed into the RV? Surely not…
“This here,” Shawn says, walking over and giving a hearty slap to the hood of the RV, “is the one and only Baby! She has been our family RV since Zoey was just a small tyke, and will be our home for the next few days. So don’t disrespect her, lest you make her mad and she breaks down on the side of the road out of spite.”
“That happens at least once every trip,” Zoey agrees, also giving the RV a slap. “And always when someone complains about her.”
Rumi cracked a smile at the antics. Zoey had definitely taken after her father antic-wise, and something about that helped Rumi’s fear of meeting him start to fade.
“And with that out of the way,” Shawn announced, scooping up his dropped box of cleaning supplies, “let’s get situated! I just got done fully cleaning it for the trip. When I sleep, I’ll be fine sleeping in the front seats. The couch by the kitchen is a fold out, so two people can sleep there. And I bought a small inflatable air mattress. And, of course, there is a king sized bed at the very back that takes up the whole back bedroom part. I’ll leave it up to all of you to decide who sleeps where.”
“Alright, fight club for the king sized-”
“Zoey,” Celine’s lips twitched in amusement. “I think it’s already understood that the three of you will need to take the big bed.”
“Aw,” Zoey deflated, her fighting pose going limp. “But I was so ready!”
Everyone laughed and any remaining tension seemed to fade. Bobby had offered to take the air mattress, giving the fold out to be shared with Seo-yeon and Celine. Everyone grabbed their belongings and began shuffling into the RV.
There was a well-loved couch facing the door, which sat next to a four-person table with benches. Some semblance of a kitchen was just beyond that, which Rumi could hear Mira cringe at the small size of. It had a mini fridge and microwave sat next to the portable, single-burner cooktop on the counter, and a single-basin sink. There were a few doors for storage above it all.
Beyond that, there was a shoebox-sized bathroom, where one could wash their hands while peeing, and rub elbows with the person in the shower at the same time. The very back of the RV held the only other door, which was the bedroom. Rumi poked her head inside, followed by Mira and Zoey to create an idol totem pole. Rumi gave a small snort at the sight.
“Your dad wasn’t exaggerating when he said it took up the entire bedroom, was he?” Rumi asked glancing down at Zoey.
The large mattress was literally wall to wall in the room. How the dad had even managed to shove the mattress into the room in the first place was likely to be a mystery plaguing Rumi’s memories for years to come.
“Where do we even put our stuff?” Mira frowned, looking down at their suitcases.
“Don’t be dramatic, Mir!” Zoey chided. She threw her bags in the corner of the room, which bounced on the mattress edge as she said, “They just sit at the foot of the bed, obviously! There is plenty of bed space for that, even with us in it!”
“And how are we going to get changed in the mornings?” Mira asked.
“On the bed! Or in the bathroom if you are feeling shy,” Zoey offered.
“The bathroom is even worse for changing in, and you know it,” Mira flicked Zoey’s head playfully. She gave a defeated sigh as she said, “Bed for changing it is then.”
Rumi smiled a toothy grin to the pink-haired huntress, “I mean, you don’t seem to have much trouble getting clothes off in the bed, so-”
“Rumi!” the other two gasped, cutting her off.
“You can not say things like that in front of my parents,” Zoey demanded with a laugh. “You two hear me? Bedroom-talk off limits in front of them unless you want to kill your girlfriend from embarrassment during the happiest time of the year!”
The three broke into a laughing fit before chucking the rest of their things on the foot of the bed.
“Alright! While the rest get ready, who would like a tour of my childhood home?”
~*~
Seo-yeon was good at assessing situations. Some call it being nosey, and a bit meddlesome for her own good, but she didn’t become regional manager of her company by keeping her eyes down. No, she got that far because she thrived in assessing problems, and had an innate desire to solve those problems in efficient and clever ways. From work to relations to recreational activities, everything could be worked out with enough tinkering. She couldn’t help not noticing in all honesty, and had no idea how these things weren’t evident to everyone else. She would just be in the area, then some interesting thing would happen so blatantly in front of her, it would always feel like it was screaming at her to look at it and to fiddle with those puzzle pieces until the edges matched up how they were intended to.
So, of course, it hadn’t taken long for her to notice the overwhelming tension in the air between Celine and the girls. More so, the tension between Celine and Rumi in particular.
She had run into Celine in the entrance of the airport. Even at that moment, Celine seemed tense. Not that it meant anything bad. Some people just naturally just were tense, and traveling to another country probably wouldn’t help that.
So, she had just chalked it up to that, and instead just went ahead and greeted the retired idol. They had talked well enough, Celine’s tension fading a bit as they walked on through the airport security, baggage check, and terminals.
The moment they had spotted Zoey and her girlfriends, however, Celine’s tension in her body returned tenfold. Interesting.
And then the woman greeted the girls, and it didn’t take a professional to read the purple-haired girl’s sudden spike of anxiety. Even with Zoey nearly tackling Seo-yeon to the floor in greeting, she couldn’t ignore how fragile the air felt beside her. She had noticed the pink-haired girl also jumping out of her skin, but it wasn’t directed at just Celine. With how often those eyes flickered from person to person, she wasn’t very happy about either of the two newcomers. Now Rumi, Celine’s ward (not daughter, as it had been made clear by the intentional lack of certain terms used in the introductions), seemed mostly tense about Celine. That is, until Seo-yeon had intimidated her (as is her job as a mother).
Celine and Rumi had even moved a little ways away for a private conversation. They both looked like they were staring down the barrel of a gun during their talk. As if they were waiting for the other to start shooting bullets at the other.
White knuckles, avoidant eyes, stammering words, ramrod straight postures that did not seem comfortable…
Yes, this seemed like a situation needing assessed. Needing assessed if only to cure her own burning curiosity in the matter.
She had tried to pick Celine’s brain on the plane ride. She asked about Rumi, trying to stay casual in her questioning so as not to seem suspicious. All she got was lots of praise of the singer from both Celine and Bobby, and the occasional distant and glazed look from Celine that would come and go.
The conversation proved Celine clearly adored her ward. Loved her and was very proud of her and all she had become. But Rumi, the skittish girl she was, didn’t provide many details on Celine. Her surprise that Celine had offered praise about her, however, spoke volumes. Both the shock of not expecting it, and the way she wanted so bad to hear what good things were said before catching herself.
So, was it really being nosey when they were being so obvious about their strained relationship? When the two of them were practically shouting to the world how badly they needed someone to help them fix this issue between them? When they both seemed to want to connect to the other so badly, but were making it clear to everyone around them that they did not have any idea how?
Would it really be so meddlesome of her to give them a little nudge, as they so clearly wanted?
But before she could start the process of putting this puzzle together, she needed more information. The observations she had gathered up until then had provided her the corner pieces. But now, she needed a bit more blatant information. She needed the edges of the puzzle, if you will, if she was to hunker down and line up the rest of the pieces within.
She needed to know what had formed the distance.
And watching her daughter yank her two girlfriends out of the RV in a fit of giggles on the way to the house, she found the perfect opportunity to dig a bit deeper with Celine. The two of them were now alone in the RV, placing their own luggage inside. Celine had watched Rumi the whole time they raced by, up until they disappeared behind Shawn’s red door, and had only looked away after giving a deep sigh.
“So,” Seo-yeon started, ready to get right to the point. “Rumi.”
Celine paused her slight unpacking as she looked up. Seo-yeon gave her a small smile in hopes to soften the next line.
“She said you don’t go by Eomma,” she raised a brow in question. “Are you not her mother?”
Celine flinched almost imperceptibly before looking back down at her task, “No, I am not. Her mother died when she was a baby.”
“I see,” Seo-yeon said in a casual tone. “And you adopted her?”
“Yes. Her mother was very special to me. Right before she passed away, she asked me to raise Rumi in her stead. So, I adopted her and raised her as my own.”
“As your own, huh? So you do see her as your daughter?” Seo-yeon pushed. She knew it wasn’t the best manners, but she needed to get enough info to make the puzzle’s edges before the others came back.
“In many ways, yes,” Celine tread carefully, side-eyeing Seo-yeon as she did. “But I’m not her mom. Not really. She stopped calling me that early on in her childhood once I shared who her real mom was.”
Seo-yeon hummed, lining that piece up to the shy girl’s reaction from earlier.
“But you love her,” Seo-yeon offered.
“Of course,” Celine offered, glancing over, brows creasing in confusion from the line of questioning. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Oh, I’m not questioning why,” Seo-yeon waved her hand dismissively. “She seems like a very lovely woman. I just couldn’t help but notice a bit of tension between the two of you.”
Celine’s face seemed to drop at that, “Ah, you noticed that, did you?”
How could I not? You two were practically broadcasting it! I have no idea how no one else seemed to notice from how loud your silence was. How anyone could see what I saw and not catch on to it had to be-
“A bit,” Seo-yeon shrugged with an amused smile.
“I apologize,” Celine sighed. “I don’t wish to pull any drama into your holiday celebration and bring it down. I know Rumi feels the same way, too. But, yes, things are a bit… strained between us right now.”
“What happened, if I may ask?”
Celine closed the suitcase as she finished unloading and crossed her arms thoughtfully, “I had… made some mistakes with raising Rumi.”
“Hasn’t every mother?” Seo-yeon mused.
Celine let out a small huff of amusement at that, a small grin forming. She slowly lowered herself onto the couch before continuing.
“True, but I had not realized how badly I messed up until just recently. Rumi and I have always struggled with understanding each other, I suppose. I had accidentally instilled in her that she was-…”
Celine took a steadying breath, folding her hands in her lap. She looked out the window, towards the door where Rumi had vanished.
“I suppose I had let my own fears for her fall onto her shoulders, and she had internalized them in a way I had not intended. She and I recently… well, I wouldn’t say fought. More like we both had a bit of a breakdown as everything came to a head. Right after that, I found out I almost lost her, all because of me and my actions while raising her. It became a wake up call for me, but I fear now it may be too late to fix it. Rumi can’t even hold a conversation with me without looking like she is about to get sick. I thought, when I heard Rumi wanted me to come-…”
Seo-yeon remained silent, gathering each piece of information thrown her way. There were clearly a lot of details missing, but nothing that she felt she couldn’t work without. And from what she had gathered, these two needed all the help they could get. Who was she to deny such a need? The gap between them was clearly much larger than the two of them knew how to even start to bridge. She just had to help them get those first few bricks down, and she was sure they would be able to take it from there.
And if that story hadn’t just pulled on her heart strings, as vague as it was. She had known at that moment she was officially taking on her newest mission for the duration of this trip.
She continued to wait, to see if Celine would offer up any more after trailing off, but the moment Celine seemed to snap out of her trance, she frantically cleared her throat and waved a hand dismissively.
“I apologize, I did not mean to dump all that on you.”
“Don’t worry,” Seo-yeon smiled. “I was the one to ask. And if it helps, from what I saw, Rumi does still care about you and what you think.”
Celine didn’t look convinced, but didn’t argue either. Instead, she pulled her attention away from the window and turned fully to Seo-yeon.
“I was surprised to hear Zoey had convinced you to join,” Celine admitted, folding her hands in her lap. “Last we met, you had been meeting me about Zoey joining Huntr/x, and I remember you had a lot of… choice words about Shawn.”
“Goodness, it has been some time since we last talked then, hasn’t it?” Seo-yeon laughed in surprise. “That was not long after our divorce was finalized, and everything was still pretty rough.”
“But not anymore, it seems?”
Seo-yeon shook her head as she closed up her suitcase. She placed it down beside the couch and perched onto the chair beside Celine.
“No, not rough anymore,” Seo-yeon smiled warmly. She contemplated how much to share, but after Celine poured her heart out, it was only fair she returned the favor. She gave a small sigh and said, “It turns out neither one of us even had wanted to be married in the first place. Shawn and I met when I was studying abroad here in America. We became pretty fast friends, constantly getting into mischief.”
Celine gave a soft smile at that, “I could see that out of the two of you.”
“You have no idea,” Seo-yeon laughed, memories filling her mind. “Of course, when a man and woman become such close friends, others start to have expectations of them. We both were getting pressured to make our friendship into something more. Shawn and I were so young, and we both had yet to work through what we wanted in life. So, we kinda just gave into the peer pressure and got together, thinking that was what we were supposed to do, and what the other was wanting.”
Celine leaned forward, almost as if she knew something was coming.
“The problem is, it is hard to maintain a healthy marriage when the husband is gay and the wife is ace.”
Celine blinked, and her mouth dropped into an, “Oh.”
Seo-yeon nodded, an amused smile forming as she joked, “Yeah, ‘oh.’ Our friendship, as strong as it was, grew into animosity, simply because we were in a marriage that neither wanted in the first place. It turned very toxic. However, once the divorce was finished, we still had to work with the fact we had Zoey tying us together. Over time, we were able to talk about everything that had happened, realized a lot of things we both did wrong, and worked on trying to just rebuild our friendship. It isn’t perfect, but it is nice having my best friend back, and just as a friend.”
Celine smiled back, “Well, I’m glad it did end positively for you both.”
“Agreed.” Seo-yeon’s mischievous grin came back, “Plus, it is much more fun being able to mess with Shawn over some of his crushes he gets. You know I am going to mock him the first chance I get for clearly already having the hots for the girl’s manager.”
“So it wasn’t just me who saw that,” Celine grinned back. “Those two boys were making clear heart eyes at one another. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Bobby so flustered over someone like that.”
“And the trip has just begun,” Seo-yeon pointed out. “Shawn is going to be hamming it up for that Bobby fellow, which will make for a prime opportunity for us to mock them silly!”
To Seo-yeon’s delight, Celine’s tense form broke as she let out a true laugh.
~*~
“Wow, Zo,” Rumi glanced around the small room, jam packed corner to corner. “And here I thought you had a lot of things back at the tower!”
“Hey!” Zoey reprimanded playfully while tossing a shark plushy at Rumi. “I do have more at the tower than here! This room just makes it seem like more because it isn’t as big of a room!”
Mira watched warmly as Rumi picked the shark plushy back up and threw it back at their maknae. Zoey immediately fell back on the bed like she had been shot. Mira shook her head and began to observe the cramped room.
Just above her, Mira took note of the small glow-in-the-dark sea creatures glued on the ceiling. Mira could just see younger Zoey staring at them at night, pretending to be a turtle in the ocean with them, and the image made Mire smile. Stuffies, of course, were abundant, covering every flat surface and place to sit with mounds of fluff and fabric. Notebooks, not that different from those Zoey created lyrics in now, sat in a haphazard stack on top of one of the two messy dressers.
“Just how many stuffed animals do you have Zo?” Rumi mocked as she plopped down beside Zoey on the bed.
“You think I’ve counted them all?”
“You did say you have all their names memorized,” Mira pointed out as she slid the top notebook from the pile into her hand.
“True, but that doesn’t mean I’ve counted them.”
Mira flipped open the notebook to a random page and started to skim. She began to frown before the notebook was suddenly ripped from her hands, slamming shut. Mira blinked in shock at Zoey, who now stood before her, holding the aforementioned notebook in the air, far from Mira’s grasp.
“Zo?” Mira’s brows pinched in concern. “What’s the matter?”
Zoey chuckled nervously as she pulled the notebook close to her chest.
“Sorry, Mir,” Zoey cringed as she spoke. “It’s just, these notebooks are… not the best. These are the ones I wrote back when I lived here. You know, before we all met and formed Huntr/x.”
“If you are worried they aren’t that good,” Rumi spoke softly from the bed, “that’s not something to be embarrassed about. No one is good right at the start. Your growth isn’t something to be embarrassed about.”
“I know,” Zoey agreed, but still gently placed the notebook back on the pile. “Still…”
Mira frowned and observed Zoey. She hadn’t seen much of what was written, but the few lines she had caught? They were dark. Darker than their Zoey often wrote like now in her lyrics. And from Zoey’s quick panic to stop Mira from reading, it was as if Zoey hadn’t wanted Mira to see it, but not out of embarrassment. It seemed more out of fear.
“Zoey,” Mira started carefully, ignoring the sight of the smaller girl tensing up. “What’s the real reason you don’t want us to see?”
Rumi looked confused at Mira, but remained silent, trusting Mira’s read on the situation. Zoey shuffled in spot, hand still on the pile before she sighed.
“It’s just, you know I didn’t have the best time before meeting you two,” Zoey started. “And my lyrics… well, they have always reflected how I feel and what I think.”
Mira nodded, but didn’t interrupt. Zoey offered a small shrug.
“Well, with the parents fighting at home, and the bullying at school, there weren’t a lot of… good feelings or thoughts at the time. Even the moments that were supposed to be good? Like this trip? It had… stopped being so good during that time.” She turned around and tried to offer the two of them an unconvincing smile. “Plus, you know how cringe teenagers can be when they are upset, especially middle schoolers.”
Mira tried to keep her flare of anger at the mention of bullying down. Granted, she had known Zoey had been bullied as a kid, but the image of someone making her Zoey feel so low never made her any less angry. She moved forward, wrapped her arm protectively over Zoey’s shoulders, and guided her over to the bed, sandwiching her securely between Rumi and herself.
“Continue,” Mira encouraged.
“Not much to say,” Zoey shrugged, leaning her head on Mira’s shoulder. She paused as Rumi took her hand and rubbed gentle circles on the back of it. Zoey groaned as she covered her face and said, “It’s just, they are filled with super depressing things I wrote back then. I wrote a lot about how sad and angry and lonely I was. It’s not pretty. I guess I just don’t like looking back at them, or having anyone see them. When they do, it feels like that version of myself is pulled back to the front of my brain, like I’m that person again. Alone and sad.”
“But you aren’t alone now,” Rumi said, kissing Zoey’s head. “You won’t ever be again, if we have anything to say about it.”
“I know,” Zoey smiled, small but real. “Which is why I don’t like looking back to that time. The me back then was ugly and harsh.”
“Nothing about you could ever be ugly,” Mira huffed, pulling her closer.
Zoey gave another small smile at that, and a few tears started to form. In a panic, Mira used her free hand to snatch a toy from beside them. Rumi, clearly having had the same idea, had thrown a pink cat into Zoey’s lap the same time Mira seemed to plop a purple dog into the lap as well. Zoey laughed at the sudden stuffies being shoved her way as she pulled them close to her chest. Mira and Rumi both released some tension from their shoulders at the laugh.
“Thanks, guys,” Zoey sniffed, rubbing the half-formed tears away. “I just mean I know I’m not that girl I was back then. I have grown a lot since then, and I have so much more in my life that I’ve been able to build. Reading those notebooks makes me feel like I did back then, and it can put my brain in a dark spot. One where I feel both too much and not enough at the same time. And those are thoughts I still struggle to fight, but I have ways to fight it now. But reading them does reopen the wounds again I suppose.”
“Then why don’t you just get rid of them?” Rumi asked earnestly.
“Because it feels wrong,” Zoey looked up while pulling the plushies up to her face. “Like, it would be a betrayal to my younger self. The only person I had back then, I felt, was me. And for me to get rid of those books feels like I’m also turning my back on my younger self. So even though I’m not her anymore, and I don’t want to read those dark thoughts anymore…”
“-you aren’t going to just throw out younger Zoey’s existence,” Mira finished.
“Exactly!” Zoey snapped her fingers towards Mira.
“So, it’s just like a shrine now, right?” Rumi offered.
“I guess that is a good way to put it,” Zoey nodded.
Rumi hummed as she gave a small kiss to Zoey’s knuckles. As she pulled away, she smiled and said, “Well, I’m glad that Zoey did exist. She deserves a shrine, because if she didn’t exist, then you wouldn’t be this wonderful Zoey we have now.”
Mira melted at the words, amazed once again at how their leader seemed to always know just the words to say. Zoey seemed to agree as she gave a wet chuckle and joked, “That’s so cheesy.”
“But true,” Mira offered, giving a small kiss to Zoey’s temple.
“And maybe we can help younger Zoey, in a way,” Rumi said.
“How?”
Rumi thought it over silently for a moment before she took Zoey’s two stuffed animals from her hold gently. She then rose from the bed, walked gracefully over to the pile, and placed the pink and purple critters upon the top. Mira blinked. The reverence in which Rumi had placed the two small toys gave it a weight. Like it was her offering to the shrine of sad, younger Zoey. Mira watched in awe as Rumi’s patterns began to softly glow at the makeshift shrine, lighting up the blue, underwater-themed room, creating the illusion of light ripples breaking through the water surface.
Rumi finally turned to Zoey, overflowing warmth and love pouring from her expression as she said, “By finally giving her memories to make up for the bad ones. You said that even your Christmas trips had stopped being good? Then we will just have to make up for it by making this trip the best one yet. How is that?”
God, Mira loved this woman. And based on the choked sobs emanating from beside her, Zoey was feeling it too. Mira pulled her closer, trying and failing to push back the waterfall that always seemed to form after Zoey would start crying. Rumi immediately stiffened as tears started to gather in her eyes as well.
“Don’t cry!” Rumi cooed as she raced back onto the bed and embraced the two of them. “You know if you cry, I’m going to cry!”
“Well, too bad!” Zoey choked out between the tears. “If you are going to be stupidly sweet and perfect, you have to cry with us as punishment!”
And they did. The three broke down in tears, embracing each other. Their sobs began equally mixing with bouts of laughter, until finally the sounds faded down and everything started to calm. Zoey let out a few more sniffles, rubbing her tears away, before startling Mira with a quick jump to her feet.
“Alright, you two!” Zoey grinned a goofy grin, as if she hadn’t just got done crying so hard her eyes were not red and puffy. She rubbed her hands together, looking like a discount cartoon villain as she said, “Let’s get started on the real reason I dragged you two in here!”
~*~
Bobby was fine. Everything was fine! The large, handsome man currently carrying multiple boxes like it was nothing was definitely not a sudden complication that risked Bobby’s heart health.
Shawn plopped down the plastic totes by the door of the RV, and then wiped away some sweat from his brow with a sigh.
Who was he kidding… this man was going to kill him by the end of the trip.
Get it together, Bobby! Bobby lectured internally. This is Zoey’s dad! You can not be crushing on your client and one of your girl’s parents, no matter how hot he is! You are a professional. Besides, what is the likelihood of him being gay as well? Low. So, don’t start swooning after-
“Hey, Bo,” Shawn called towards him with a grin. “Can you come help me for a second?”
“Bo?” Bobby chuckled in surprise as he walked over.
“Short for Bobby,” Shawn’s blue eyes seemed to twinkle with pride. “Felt a cute nickname was fitting. You okay with me calling you that?”
Bobby nearly died right then. He began nervously chuckling as he shot finger guns at the larger man.
“Pfffft, sure! I’m cool with it! It’s chill,” Bobby stumbled for words.
To add to Bobby’s growing desire to dig a hole to die in, Shawn burst out laughing. He then placed his large hand (oh god his hand is massive, how is it so large-) onto Bobby’s shoulder and pointed at a box.
“Alright, Bo! These boxes are full of supplies we are going to need later in the trip. I have them labeled on what they are. Anything marked as ‘RV decor’ needs to be put into a corner of the RV somewhere. Anything marked as ‘Christmas’ will be loaded in the storage I have built up top.”
Bobby tried hard to not focus on the heat forming from the shoulder touch as he looked up to the top of the RV.
“That’s really high up there, and these boxes are really big,” Bobby said, rubbing at his lip’s peach fuzz thoughtfully. “How are you going to get these up there?”
“I’ll climb up the ladder attached to the back. I’ve altered the Christmas totes to have little rings on the sides. You will be down here as I throw a rope down. Just weave them through the holes, tie a knot, and then I’ll lift it up when you are done!”
“Okay!” Bobby nodded, thinking through the plan. “One problem, though.”
“What’s that?”
Bobby looked back at the ginger, and had to remind himself to keep breathing. He waved his hands frantically in the air as he averted his eyes once again.
“Well, you see- I mean, to do that- I’ve never had to learn this before now, you know?”
“Learn?” Shawn spoke with clear amusement in his voice.
“To tie knots,” Bobby cleared his throat, tucking his hands behind his back. “Unless I’m tying a shoe, of course. But those don’t translate to this I don’t think.”
Shawn raised a brow as Bobby kept his eyes on Not Shawn.
“I could show you, you know,” Shawn mused. “There’s one called a painter’s knot that would probably work once you get the hang of it.”
“O-oh! Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do that.”
Shawn bent down to his small pile of totes, opened one, and snatched out a long rope before closing the tote back up. He threw the loops over his head, letting it rest like a sash as he held one of the ends. Once he had unraveled enough from around him for the rope’s end to have a decent amount of slack, he led the two of them over to the back of the RV, leaving Bobby even more flustered by the hand on his shoulder having then been placed at the small of his back during the walk.
“Now, once you are done weaving the rope through the tote, you will be tying the end to the rope that’s hanging down. However, I’ll have you practice tying it on the ladder bars for practice,” Shawn explained as he made his way in front of the ladder. “This knot is good if you only have one end of the rope and for transporting things quickly up to people above you. The knot is tight and secure, but can be undone quickly by the person up top by just one quick pull of the rope’s end.”
Call me a painter’s knot, then, Bobby thought before mentally smacking that thought back with a rolled up newspaper.
“Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to make it pretty quick. When it is done, it should look like this!”
In a flurry of calculated hand movements, the rope was quickly secured to the bar. Bobby couldn’t help but get star eyes at the knotting skills.
“That was amazing!” Bobby gushed, clapping his hands together. “How did you do that?”
Shawn’s smile grew as he gave the rope’s end a quick tug, causing the perfect knot to dissolve and fall to the ground.
“Well, come over here and I’ll walk you through the steps.”
Bobby walked over, taking the rope from Shawn’s hand and draping the excess over his head before turning to the bar. He tried to remember what Shawn had done as he stared at the rope, but quickly realized he had not been memorizing the steps as Shawn had done it. He had been too busy gawking at the man’s hands working so skillfully.
Bobby didn’t have time to say anything, though, before he felt Shawn’s body press behind him. Two hands wrapped in front of him, holding Bobby’s dwarfed hands in the others. Bobby felt his brain blue screen at the realization of the predicament he was in.
“Now, to start,” Shawn’s deep voice brushed over Bobby’s burning ear, “you need to make a small bump.”
All Bobby could do to respond was nod once. He tried to ignore his racing heart as he watched Shawn guide his hands into making said bump in the rope.
“Now,” Shawn spoke calmer than his usual energetic tone, “for the next step-"
The two of them remained like that for three different walkthroughs. Granted, Bobby had it down by the end of the second hands-on lesson, but one more surely couldn’t hurt. It was just to make sure he had it down. That’s all. Had nothing to do with how nice it felt to be in the large man’s hold. Not at all.
But it didn’t make him mourn the loss of Shawn’s touch as he finally pulled back.
“That’s it,” Shawn praised as he patted Bobby’s shoulder. “You are a quick learner!”
“Oh, thank you!” Bobby blushed, laughing awkwardly as he fiddled with the rope. “Gotta be a quick learner when you manage idol groups. You never know what next random skill is needed to fix some random disaster that will pop up!”
“Well, I shouldn’t be surprised with how talented you are, then,” Shawn smiled down at him.
Bobby did not die at that compliment.
“Now, how about we get these loaded up before it gets dark.”
Bobby also, miraculously, did not die while gawking at Shawn standing up on the roof, lifting the heavy totes through the air like they weighed nothing. Though, he was already breaking his own rule as he clearly began swooning down below.
He was so distracted by the handsome man smiling down at him he didn’t even notice three women giggling like school girls as they ran past him, carrying armfuls of blankets and plushies into the RV.
~*~
“Alrighty!” Shawn called out, placing his hands on his hips proudly. “I think we are good to go!”
Everyone turned to look at the front of the RV, where Shawn was beaming with excitement by the entrance. Zoey glanced out the window, observing the sky. The sun had just finished fully setting. The darkness had fully taken over the street. The best part? The lights of the street! Granted, her dad’s was obviously the best on the entire street, but even the other decorated houses had put in a hardy effort. Zoey was sure the street’s Christmas decor seemed to create more twinkles along the road than there were stars visible in the sky.
“It’s already dark, Shawn,” Celine pointed out. “Are you sure you are up to driving this late?”
“Don’t you worry,” Shawn assured as he slid into the driver’s seat. “You weren’t the only ones who got a nap during your flight time. I made sure to get a good rest during that so I would be good to drive tonight! Now, if everyone is all situated and ready, why don’t we get Baby up and running?”
Zoey perked up. She had forgotten! How could she have forgotten? She had been planning to show her girlfriends since they pulled up to the house. She shouted “Wait” over and over as she stumbled from the couch and her girl’s arms. She tripped, nearly face planting onto the RV’s dash but her dad caught her just in time.
“Woah now, Turtle!” Shawn gave a concerned once-over before letting go. “What’s the matter?”
“Sorry! I just wanted to show everyone the light show you made!” Zoey rushed out. “They haven’t seen it yet, and I really wanted to show them!”
“Oh! Is that all?” Shawn’s grin returned under his beard. “Why didn’t you say so? Let’s get the radio tuned to it, then! And I have to pull the RV to the front.”
“Um, question?” Rumi’s soft voice broke through as she raised her hand.
“Yes! Rumi! What’s your question?” Zoey chirped as she spun around and pointed at Rumi like a teacher calling on a student.
“What light show?”
Zoey grabbed the two front seats just in time as the RV lurched forward a bit. She was not about to nearly faceplant twice in less than two minutes.
“Good question, Ru!” Zoey winked, causing a faint blush to appear on her partner’s face. “If you would all be so kind as to turn your attention out the port side- or is it starboard? I always get those two mixed up. Isn’t-
“Zo,” Mira redirected with an amused tone.
“Right! If you would turn to look out the windows above the couch, you will get to see an amazing show! Dad has built, all on his own, an amazing light show for all to behold, free of charge!”
The RV stopped just in front of the house, just as Shawn had Bobby set the radio station from the passenger seat. The RV was suddenly filled with music. Zoey ran over and slid back between her two girlfriends as everyone surrounded the window.
“It was Christmas Eve… My Friends were all in town…”
As the song started up with the calm intro, the lights being projected on the side of the house gently shifted colors, while all the rest remained dark. Everyone listened to the slow beginning and began to watch in calm wonder at the sight. Zoey forced herself to keep up a giggle down as the tone prepared to change. After all, she knew this song was-
“Tell me who, who spiked the eggnog?”
Everyone around her seemed a bit shocked at the sudden shift as all the yard lights began to blare. Bobby began to laugh in surprise and everyone else grinned. The lights in the yard danced along the upbeat song by Straight No Chaser, one of her favorite Christmas bands since she was a kid. One screen, dark before the song came to life as images of a gingerbread man began drinking eggnog, and falling backwards off screen. Rumi pointed at it with a soft, amused giggle. The lights and lit-up candy canes along the pathway seemed to dance to the tune, reminiscent to Zoey of the way the Honmoon would dance around when Huntr/x performed.
Zoey turned around the RV to gauge everyone’s reactions. Shawn was humming and mumbling the lyrics as he bopped around in the front seat. Bobby was snapping along as he joined in the bounce. The goofy look he always got when mimicking their choreography was now making an appearance, making Zoey grin in amusement. Her eomma was tapping her foot with an amused look as she watched. Rumi and Mira were bouncing their heads to the beat and giggling at the goofy lyrics, and Zoey caught Celine’s attention focused, not on the light show, but on the back of Rumi. A bittersweet smile seemed to grace her features as she did. The moment she noticed Zoey watching, however, she snapped her gaze away and began watching the show again, trying hard to ignore having been caught staring. Zoey hummed thoughtfully at Celine and squinted. She swore Celine wasn’t acting like her normal self.
She knew things had been tense around the subject of Celine within her beloved polycule. It made sense, especially after Rumi had admitted all that went down between her and their older mentor during the night that must never- never, ever, ever- be mentioned again.
They had repeated that conversation over and over. They had spent a good month after that night blaming each other, and then even longer themselves, creating enough self-hatred to fill the tower ten times over. It took Zoey breaking down in a panic attack over her thinking that their newly formed relationship was already going to turn out like her parents for them all to snap out of it. They had all done the work to improve after that. They all agreed many mistakes were made, many regrets were had, but blame was now no longer allowed to be thrown or held between them. An unspoken agreement had also come to be, that they were not to ever bring up that night if possible. They were ready to focus on the future and heal together. Always together.
Looking back, Zoey wanted to smack herself.
Of course they had been healing. They had worked through their interactions between each other. But Rumi and Celine hadn’t. All these months later, as far as Zoey had known, the two of them hadn’t spoken of the-moment-that-shall-not-be-named that happened during that-night-that-shall-not-be-named.
But Rumi had agreed to the trip, and so had Celine. Zoey couldn’t help but hope that meant they were ready to move past it all. As much as she had been angry at Celine about everything she did to cause Rumi to feel the way she had, Zoey still couldn’t help the fact she cared for Celine as well. The woman had taken her in, provided her a home, provided her a purpose, provided her Zoey’s soulmates when she hadn’t believed any of those could ever be hers. Zoey owed so much to her, and even saw her as a second mother. Yes, she had made huge mistakes in the past, but so had Zoey’s parents, and that hadn’t stopped Zoey from loving them.
As Zoey stared more at Celine, her gears began cranking. Neither had interacted much on this trip yet. Yeah, it’s just started, but still! They both clearly wanted to, but both were too awkward or whatever to actually take that first step alone.
She huffed as a plan, or rather a list of plans, began to form as she realized it might be up to her to give them some shoves.
That’s when she noticed her eomma watching her. As their eyes met, her eomma gave one of her mischievous grins. She waved a small gesture towards Rumi and Celine, pointed at herself with a wink, then waved away Zoey as if to shoo her away from her claimed puzzle.
Zoey returned the grin, throwing her mental notebook away in the bin. If her mother was on the case, the two others had no idea what was about to hit them. Zoey could just sit back and watch her eomma work her magic.
Content, Zoey returned to her girlfriends, wrapping her arms around their necks as they all huddled by the window and enjoyed the show.
As the song finished, Shawn started the engine back up. As he pulled away, he made some comment about how they would be there all night if they had gone through the whole music playlist he had created over the years. The moment floated away as they drove off, and everyone took that moment as a sign to get settled in for the night. They all took turns changing into their pajamas and going through the nightly routines. As they got close to finishing, Zoey rushed into the bedroom, causing Rumi to give a startled yelp as she was mid-changing. Zoey repeatedly apologized in a rush as she dug through her side of the bed. She was trying to be quick- really she was- but with all the blankets and plushies they had thrown onto the bed for a makeshift nest of fluffiness, it was making it hard to find what she actually was looking for. Finally- finally- she gave a shout of victory as she dug out her tablet and raced out, leaving a frazzled girlfriend behind.
Zoey plopped at the end of the pullout bed, where her eomma and Celine were already sitting upright in, and began to shuffle through her list. Mira slipped out of the table seating to sit beside Zoey, who was still a bit pink in the face from the glance of Rumi when she burst in.
“What’s the matter, Zo?” Mira grinned as she nudged her shoulder. “You are looking a little pink there.”
“Shut up, Mir,” Zoey mumbled, swiping down the list a little faster.
Mira lowered her voice and leaned in, seeming to try and spare Celine from hearing, as she purred, “Did you see something you like in there?”
Maybe this wasn’t the best idea, putting their very-horny-and-new polycule in the same RV as their parental figures.
“Mira, I swear to the Honmoon if you don’t-"
She was cut off as Rumi exited the back room, causing Zoey’s head to snap towards her. Rumi was still very pink in the face as she glared at Zoey. Zoey sank down with a guilty smile.
“Sorry, Ru! I just wanted to grab-"
She was cut off as Mira said, “Don’t say what you wanted to grab in front of the parents. That’s rude.”
“MIRA!” Zoey and Rumi snapped, both of their blushes deepening as Mira chuckled.
“Mira, dear.”
Zoey’s eomma spoke deathly calm, causing a chill to enter the room, and made the three of them turn slowly to the two other women. Celine just looked exhausted as she rubbed her forehead, but what really caused them all to flinch was the sharp glare her eomma was shooting Mira.
“I would really appreciate keeping such comments about our children away from our vicinity, if you would be so kind.”
Mira tensed, swallowing hard, “Yeah. Right. Sorry.”
Silence sat heavy, everyone seeming afraid to move and anger the beast further. Zoey could practically cry tears of relief as Bobby’s voice broke the tension.
“So, Zoey! Mira told me about your plans to have us binge Christmas films. What movie are you about to have us watch tonight? I can probably watch one before I need to sleep, but no more than that. I have to trade off driving for Shawn if he gets too tired.”
Bobby had left the front seat to sit on the floor beside the bed. Zoey clicked the movie and propped the tablet on the table in front of them.
“Fair enough! Tonight’s feature is just a little known movie called ‘Home Alone.’ It’s chalk-full of shenanigans, mischief, troublemaking-“
“So, just you in movie form?” Rumi mocked as she finally sat beside Zoey.
“Rude… but not wrong,” Zoey smiled back playfully.
“Then this will be interesting,” Mira chuckled, her nerves now gone.
~*~
“And this is why one should never have so many kids,” Mira frowned.
“Yeah, the moment you can’t even keep track of the ones you have, you should stop,” Rumi agreed.
“How hard is it to notice you are missing one of your babies?” Bobby tsk-ed disapprovingly.
“Especially the troublemaker. You can always tell something is wrong if the troublemaker is not there to cause more mayhem,” Seo-yeon agreed.
“I know if our troublemaker wasn’t around, we would notice that Zoey wasn’t there,” Celine agreed.
“Shots fired!” Zoey gasped back at her mentor.
~
“Who is this kid?” Rumi gaped at the screen. “All these traps he set… I don’t think even trained adults would think of all this, let alone be able to set it up on such short notice!”
“He is a boy genius, clearly,” Zoey agreed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Ah, that reminds me of when Zoey was little and looked up to him like a role model,” Shawn laughed from the front seat. “That hospital visit she created for me was not something I was expecting to come home to after work. The nurses looked terrified as I tried to explain how I had a head wound, sprained ankle, a minor electrical shock, and twelve squirrel bites on my arms.”
“Twelve?” Bobby gasped.
Celine looked towards Zoey in horror and some newfound respect.
“Oh, I need to hear this story!” Mira laughed, pausing the video.
“No, we definitely do not!” Zoey squeaked, pressing play.
“Oh, we definitely do!” Rumi giggled, pausing the video again and blocking Zoey’s hand. “I don’t think I could focus on the movie until I hear it!”
Zoey groaned as she sank into the bed and covered her face.
Shawn cleared his throat and started, “Okay, so it was her first time staying home alone…”