Chapter Text
Mira told Rumi it would be fine. She’d step outside the restaurant to speak to her brother alone. She told Rumi she could handle it. She’d like to handle it up front so they can resume their night out. Zoey’s on her way, running a tad late from a radio talk show with a few other K-pop lyricists from other groups.
Mira wants Rumi by her side, but she knows she’d make this conversation with her brother that much harder. He never understood her choice to leave Kang Pacific in favor of following some random K-pop dream. He doesn’t even know that she’s dating both of her bandmates.
So, they go outside. They turn the corner so they can be alone. After all, HUNTR/X’s Mira and the heir to the Kang family’s fortune shouldn’t be seen arguing in public. It’s not how they were raised. Arguments in the Kang household were always grumbled in the corner, never messy with an audience.
Mira receives the normal sort of berating she’s come to expect from her older brother.
You’re making a fool of yourself. You shouldn’t have abandoned the family business like that. Blah, blah, blah.
Mira’s heard enough in the first thirty seconds to know that he’s not going to be satisfied with any of her responses.
“Can’t you record all of this and just send it to me over text or something?” Mira asks, crossing her arms.
“I would if you hadn’t blocked my number,” her brother replies.
“Whatever. Call my manager then. He can tell you where we send all the hate mail. I need to get back to Rumi,” Mira says, pushing past him to head back into the restaurant.
Rumi pops around the corner and locks eyes with her. Simultaneously, Mira’s brother grabs her by the arm.
“You really thought you could just walk away?” he asks, his voice barely an aggressive whisper.
Mira’s still looking right at Rumi when her brother jams something into her abdomen. She grabs her brother’s coat to keep herself steady when the pain blooms white-hot just above her belly button.
There’s an ache in Mira’s chest when Rumi’s face drops. Betrayal, because Mira never thought her brother could do something so cruel. Hurt, because Rumi is watching this and Zoey is still on the way, clueless as to what’s currently happening. Shock because there’s crimson spilling out of her rapidly and there’s not a thing she can do to stop it.
“NO!” Rumi yells, beginning to sprint toward them.
Mira knows if Rumi gets her hands on her brother there’s no way he’s making it back to the Kangs’ mansion on the other side of Seoul.
As Mira’s knees begin to give out, she keeps her gaze locked on Rumi. Her anchor, her guiding light. She’s pissed.
“Father says hello,” Mira’s brother whispers in her ear, then yanks the knife away, concealing it in his suit jacket and sprinting away from Rumi.
Mira finds herself sprawled on the ground, her hands coated in sticky wetness by the time that Rumi drops to her knees at her side.
“MIRA!” she yells, shaking her shoulder. It brings Mira back to the present. “No, no, no…”
Rumi doesn’t chase her brother. Mira can see she’s not even thinking about making him pay for what he’s done. She’s going to be right by her side. She’s right there to put pressure on her wound with tears in her eyes. She’s right there to tie one of her favorite jackets around her abdomen to keep the pressure there, calling Zoey with a shaking hand while trying to assure her she’s going to be alright.
Rumi assures her Zoey’s already on the way. She’s only a few minutes down the road. Mira doesn’t absorb much of what Rumi’s telling her when she sobs - there’s a ringing in her ears that won’t go away.
When Zoey makes it to her side, too, Mira knows she’s safe with her girls.
It’s probably why she blacks out. She doesn’t remember the ride to the hospital.
When she wakes up in the hospital bed, she knows exactly who’s tucked up against her.
Zoey has climbed up beside her, lying against her and hugging her arm. Her black space buns press against her shoulder.
Rumi’s upper half is sprawled across her lap, her head resting against her thigh and arms reaching across her legs to feel for any movement while she sleeps.
No matter what the Kangs think, Mira doesn’t care. They’ve never been her real family. Her real family is right here.
These two girls are her whole world. When they wake up later, Mira knows they’ll smother her with kisses and sweet words. For now, she just wants to enjoy the peace, so she closes her eyes and rests easily.