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pied piper ch.1

kpop demon hunters (2025)

Prologue - 2.2k words

Rumi x Jinu, Mira x Romance x Abby, Zoey x Mystery, Zoey & Baby masterpost + ao3

As HUNTR/X’s public reputation is in shambles, the girls decide the best way to maintain the restored Honmoon is to show off their truer colors. By joining variety shows. But how can they stick to the script when the Saja Boys of all groups is gearing up to make a post-hiatus comeback from their…enlistment?

There had never been a moment in their careers when Bobby had not cared about numbers completely.

It was his job to pay attention to the target market, the cost per lead, and, of course, the streams. All the hard number grunt work rested on his back so that his girls could focus on what mattered to them— their dreams, their music, and of course, their fans. HUNTR/X was not just a three-member group. Its success mattered on the countless hours their staff and backstage management had put into their stages and production.

Which was why he took their phones.

“This is sooo unfair! Bobby, we aren’t trainees anymore—” Zoey could have damaged his eardrums with how much she shrieked against the gadget ban.

Their jobs were to sing, not scroll through social media to see what everyone had to say about the shitshow that was the Idol Awards. That was his job. And Legal’s, because he had a lot of lawsuits to process.

Bobby constantly reassured his girls that he would handle it. He calmed them down, telling them that they had already done the legwork with their impromptu performance of their brand-new single ‘What It Sounds Like’. Though he does not know exactly what happened on stage when they performed ‘TAKEDOWN’, he fully reassured them that the new single showcases that their bond is stronger than any disagreement. Their fanbase is strong. They did not need to care about what the general public thought.

He did, though.

He absolutely had to care about what the GP thought.

Which was how he found himself alone on top of the agency rooftop, screaming out at the Seoul skyline for a miracle.

Bobby couldn’t stand to imagine how difficult it would be for Rumi to shoulder, as the group’s leader. This was his burden to carry. He was the cleverest, fiercest, and sexiest manager in the industry. He was an SNU alum for god’s sake, and there was no PR crisis he could NOT solve. After all, he managed to turn around all the potential hate that joint fansign could have attracted into positive salacious buzz.

He was the best of the best, and even the best of the best needed a moment alone beside a skyscraper’s ledge smoking through half a pack of cigarettes to manage the stress. He was starting to think it was a mistake to get slims instead of something stronger, but Mira liked her ESSE menthols, and she was a decent smoking buddy when they were hiding from Rumi and Zoey— and the press.

He reached in his pocket for his lighter, but with his hands numbed from the evening air he struggled to get a good grasp of the plastic. Cigarette hanging off his lips, he pressed his thumb against the toothed wheel and clicked a few times but the flame wasn’t staying due to the wind.

Breathe. Not the time to overreact and scream about how the universe was actively plotting against him by magnifying every inconvenience he had ever encountered.

There were a couple of footsteps behind him, which weren’t uncommon. The rooftop was a popular smoking corner for the building workers, evidenced by the sleek metal ashtray pole he stood by and the steady stack of burnt filters inside. It was actually rare for him to have the corner all to himself. Bobby didn’t turn around to check who it was, too focused on figuring out how to keep the lighter lit.

A small, childlike hand slid into his periphery, holding a metal lighter with a steady flame. A deep voice spoke beside him “Need a light?”

“Thanks man,” Bobby sighed with gratitude as he leaned forward.

Life would be okay. What matters still matters.

He has a job he loves.

His cigarette was lit.

HUNTR/X stayed together.

Baby Saja was smoking with him.

Their new song was going viral.

Baby Saja was smoking with him?

When the news broke out, the first thing Rumi did was to check whether the Honmoon was secured.

The second thing was to confirm she was not going insane with her girls.

“This is not happening.” Mira was wearing a hole in the penthouse floor from her pacing. “When I handle my business, I handle it. I felt the weight of their flesh give out beneath my woldo. There’s no way they aren’t demon dust.”

“I can’t take this!” Zoey was so close to ripping the seams of the couch cushions. “I. Need. My. Phone.”

Rumi was rooted in place as she stared at the large television screen in front of them as the news broadcast continued.

SAJA BOYS TO MAKE A COMEBACK AFTER THEIR MILITARY ENLISTMENT.

“Enlistment?” Mira scoffed. “It’s only been two weeks since we restored the Honmoon.”

Rumi squeezed her eyes shut as her brain racked for an explanation. “Celine did say that the Honmoon has some special qualities in altering how civilians perceive reality.”

“So it somehow convinced everyone that a month-old rookie boy group’s two-week hiatus is due to them being away for a two-year military enlistment?” Mira shouted at no one in particular. This was ridiculous. As of yesterday, the Saja Boys were considered disbanded. Now, they were being labeled patriots by the media for having enlisted all together as a group even when they had an—

“Exemption?!” Foam burst from the cushion that Zoey dug her nails into. The news story became more ridiculous by the minute. “Since when did the president give out exemptions to K-Pop idols?”

“Since before he got impeached,” Mira huffed. “Doesn’t matter anyway. They didn’t take it.”

Zoey stood up indignantly. “Well, I say we finish the job. Tonight! And catch them alive so we can torture them into telling us where the hole in the Honmoon is.”

Rumi, eyes still clenched tight, finally spoke up before Mira and Zoey could start practicing their good-cop bad-cop routine. “I don’t think there’s any hole.”

Mira. “How else could they get in?”

Rumi. “Maybe they never were on the other side of the veil. Maybe they got sealed up here.”

Zoey. “Nope, I don’t think that’s it. I agree with what Mira said. We felt them die.”

Rumi. “ I know. I saw him. Right in front of me.”

She sank to her knees, head in her hands.

Mira and Zoey shared a concerned look, unsure of what to say. They were not familiar with just how deep the connection between Rumi and Jinu was. After the final battle, Rumi soaked with them in the bathhouse as she recounted the clandestine meetings she shared with him, how she was so determined to believe that the redemption of demons was possible, all because of him.

How Jinu taught her how to stop dealing with herself in parts, and to accept herself in whole.

Two pairs of arms encircled Rumi in an embrace as they all sat together on the floor. She brought her hands up and squeezed them closer.

“I don’t know exactly what to feel…” She confessed to them. “Am I relieved? Or, worried?”

“Freaked out?” Zoey supplied.

“That too.”

Mira pecked the side of Rumi’s head comfortingly, a show of physical affection she reserved only for her girls. “Feel whatever you want. It just sucks that this had to happen while we’re on hiatus. I don’t want you to be hung up on this when you’re supposed to be relaxing.”

Carefully, Rumi was guided onto the couch, and the news channel switched to some mindless romantic drama. The girls didn’t pay the TV any mind, choosing to focus their full attention on each other as they snuggled together.

This was how Bobby found them. They gave him tired, but pointed, stares when they spotted that he was carrying their phones. “Hey girls.”

“Hi Bobby,” They chorused.

“So when were you planning on telling us we got new labelmates?” Mira got straight to the point.

Zoey glared at Bobby for good measure. “You’re lucky it’s couch time. I’m sooo pissed that we had to find out from the news!”

“I only found out last night,” Bobby defended himself as he handed back the girls their phones. Like addicts, they immediately took them and powered them on. “You know I’m not the CEO. I don’t know what goes on in the label outside of you three.”

“So why are you breaking the phone ban so early?” Rumi asked, panic rising slightly.

“Rumi, don’t question it or else he’ll take them back.”

“But Zoey, Bobby wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t think there was a PR emergency.”

Rumi’s panic transferred to the two others, who instantly began opening every social media account they had.

But nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Oh, this seems, fine?” Zoey remarked as she scrolled through her feed. “Our fans are keeping the community alive while we’re in hiatus!”

Bobby’s frown deepened. “It’s not really about the fans, but what’s happening…outside.”

Mira raised an eyebrow before switching her feed from her Following to her For You.

Oh. There it was.

It was a little silly that they deluded themselves into believing that everything would come back to the way it was before the Idol Awards. While their fans remained steadfastly faithful, they completely forgot that they were still parties under the Court of Public Opinion.

Rumors about catfights.

How they only got along for the cameras.

Speculations of unprofessionalism.

Calls for their disbandment.

“I’m sorry that I kept this from you for so long.” Bobby bowed his head. “I tried my best to contain this so that you can fully enjoy your break, but since the Saja Boys got signed by the agency—”

“And Celine allowed this?” Rumi found it to be impossible. HUNTR/X’s management was all built by Celine. They have never handled any other artists. Rumi wondered what was going on in her head.

Bobby sighed. “That’s why I thought she ran it by you first. Have you reached out to her?”

Rumi did not answer. They haven’t spoken since the night of the Idol Awards.

“So what’s the point of showing us that the entire country hates us?” Mira ground her teeth. Her grip tightened on her phone.

Bobby massaged his temples. “As confusing as this is, I think there is a purpose to bringing the Saja Boys in after their enlistment.”

Zoey blistered. “They never were enlisted!”

“Well, yes, technically Mystery did do community service work so that he wouldn’t shave his head—"

She groaned in frustration. What kind of mist did the Honmoon emit to mask the sinister nature of the Saja Boys’ disappearance?

“Girls! Listen to me.” Bobby clapped his hands to bring their attention back to him and away from the blistering comments on social media. “Before we work on your comeback, we need to work on your reputation.”

“That’s going to be impossible. We’re female idols. Everything we do causes a scandal. We can’t be perfect,” Mira almost ranted.

OMG, Mira didn’t bow to her senior group at the Idol Awards. No respect at all. I’ve been waiting for all of you to catch on that she has bad vibes. Erm is it just me or was it crazy rude how she spoke to her staff like that? Her parents probably paid for her to get in the group.

Zoey agreed. “Once the public has an idea of us, it’s almost impossible for them to let it go. We don’t have it easy like boy groups. Look at the Saja Boys— they sucked the souls out of half their fans but the public still loooves them!”

It feels like Zoey just makes her whole personality being Korean-American lololol In this live, you can see that Mira and Rumi are so tired of her Can she stop being so fake for once. It’s giving pick-me I’VE BEEN SAYING! Look at how she eats a strawberry! She’s so corny in her grown age.

“Sucking the souls out of their fans sounds a bit harsh,” Bobby winced, oblivious to any further meaning.

Rumi circled her arms around her bandmates’ shoulders, drawing them close to calm them down a bit. “Bobby, you’re our numbers guy.”

“I’m your numbers guy,” he nodded.

“What do you think we should do?”

“With how things worked the last time you collaborated…” He slowly tried to ease them into his idea. “I don’t think it would hurt to collaborate with them again.”

Zoey immediately shot it down. “I don’t think I can write any songs at the moment . ”

“Not songs, but think about it girls. You're absolutely right, boy groups have it easier. So why don't we exploit it with...”

He picked up the TV’s remote control and began surfing the channels. They recognize their contemporaries immediately.

Idols playing the mafia game. Idols taking care of babies. Idols living alone. Idols cooking together or managing cafes. Idols roaming the streets of Seoul to have dinner with random families. Idols dancing to twice the speed of the song.

The girls were reminded of the very reason why they’re called idols and not merely artists or singers.

They trained to entertain. Beyond cutthroat choreographies and non-skip discographies, they were built to wield influence and catch attention.

Most importantly, Rumi thought, they had to appear authentic.

In the haze of the kaleidoscopic lights and shimmering ‘special effects’ comes a new era for HUNTR/X. Moving forward, they promised themselves that they would show their truer colors to the world. Unapologetically themselves.

What better way than through the humiliation trials of variety shows?

notes:

using all my kpop knowledge as a third gen stan to make this. liberties have been taken to how the variety shows are portrayed.

rated M for language and mature content like smoking and drinking. I also want to slightly delve into how misogynistic kpop stans are lmao.

dont expect fully nuanced personalities for the saja boys either (commentary on how girls have to be multidimensional but boys can just be hot? who knows) but theyll still be fleshed out ish.

if the dialogue is corny blame it on the fact that this is a kids movie and ure reading fanfiction based on said kids movie. i actually think it's not canonically corny enough!

anyway kpop stans! lmk if u would like to see something referenced hehe esp since im not actively updated w kpop anymore erm.

This is how I imagine the Saja Boys showing up to Celine, broke + fresh from crawling out of whatever hell they were in, and pitching that she should sign them (woa why did she agree to sign them??? next chapter! please let me cook youll understand):

im on twitter @patroxlos

#kpop demon hunters #kpdh #rujinu #miromabby #zoestery #rumi x jinu #mira x romance x abby #zoey x mystery #huntr/x #huntrix #saja boys #cross posted on ao3 #pied piper by patroxlos

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