Chapter Text
Celine's life fell apart when she got the call.
Miyeong, her beautiful Miyeong, was in the hospital.
There was an accident.
After all these years, after the fallout, Celine was still her emergency contact.
Celine cut the three-hour drive to Namwon to two hours, thanking whatever gods or spirits were listening for not letting her get pulled over. She practically left tire marks in the parking garage as she peeled out to make her journey.
She left similar marks when parking her car.
Miyeong was already gone when she arrived.
There was no other next of kin, only Celine, grieving alone until one of the nurses approached.
"Celine-nim, do you have a moment to talk?" The nurse spoke softly, regret at interrupting Celine tingeing her voice.
Celine imagines she looks pathetic in this moment, her head in her hands and tears smeared across her face, sitting on the tile floor of the hallway. She hadn't even brushed her hair when she left her home, rushing and putting her tangled hair into a low ponytail.
She used the back of her arm to wipe her face, red eyes peering up in harsh lighting. "I, uh, yeah," her voice cracked, "I have a moment."
The nurse slid down the wall to join her on the floor. "Uh, sorry for your loss. I grew up listening to your music, and I was devastated when the group disbanded. I'm glad you were willing to come for Miyeong, despite whatever broke you apart."
Celine's heart seized at the reminder, so many years lost that she would never get back.
"She kept asking for you, saying you needed to check her desk for care instructions. I think she has a pet. There wasn't any record we could find of any other family. I figured I'd let you know sooner rather than later."
What a shitty thing she has to deal with, to lose her everything twice in her life, and then have to go worry about some pet. Celine didn't even like animals! Why would Miyeong relegate such a task to her of all people?
So that night, she drove in silence into the Namwon countryside, ready to follow her love's wishes.
It was not a pet.
It was not a pet.
Celine expected to enter Miyeong's isolated mountain home, feed whatever animal came out to greet her, then crash on the couch and let all other problems be pushed to the next day.
What she didn't expect was to be pounced on by a small rabid child with only one yellow eye.
"STRANGER DANGER!"
The little shit knocked her to the floor.
"Wha-" Celine barely managed to get out before the kid skittered away on all fours, "Oh, what in the fuck."
A little voice shouted out from the other room. "EOMMA SAYS YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY BAD WORDS IN THIS HOUSE!"
Eomma?!
EOMMA?!
"Hold on, kid. Is your mom Ryu Miyeong?" She asked, arms out in a placating gesture so the gremlin doesn't reappear and jump her again.
A head of purple hair peered around the corner, and if Celine could focus on her moonlit face enough, she could make out Miyeoung's soft features staring back at her.
Oh God, she left a kid behind.
"Yeah, and who are you?" The child said, voice clear with suspicion. She could tell that at least the child's yellow eye was squinting at her, assessing her.
"Did your mom ever mention her old bandmates? I'm Celine, I used to work with your mom." She said gently. Work was such an understatement. How do you tell a child that she loved her mother so much she would have burned the world down for her, and it was still not enough?
The kid darted out again fast, and Celine crossed her arms in front of her face to defend herself from the oncoming assault. Death by rabid child, that's what her obituary would say.
Instead, the child skidded to a stop in front of her.
"Celine! Mom talks about you all the time! Did she invite you over? Where is she?" The child was practically bouncing on her feet, filled with a lot of energy for this late at night.
The former idol was not prepared for this. Not for this grief, not for this discussion, and not for the sudden pain in her back from where she hit the floor. She did the only thing she could think of: channel her inner idol like she was at a fansign.
"Hi hun, what's your name?" Celine asked with what she hoped was a steady and positive voice, and the child didn't seem to notice any trace of the sorrow that permeated the older woman.
"My name's Rumi! I'm five years old and I like tigers!" Okay, that was more information than Celine needed, but she'll take it anyway.
"Hi Rumi, it's nice to meet you. Can we turn on some lights? It's hard to see this late at night." The girl looked around like she had just realized Celine couldn't see anything, furrowing her brows.
"The lamp is over there, but I'm too short to light it." A small hand reached out and grasped Celine's, leading her to a side table. There is something wrong with the child's hands. They were rough like an animal's paws, "I'm not allowed to light it on my own, anyway."
If Celine hadn't come along, Rumi would have spent days bathed in the night's darkness, especially since they were far from the nearest town.
Not that it seemed to bother the kid anyway.
She fiddled with the old school oil lantern until she realized she needed a lighter, then fumbled around the table's drawer for a suitable one. Once, she finally got it lit, she was so close to a breakdown that if anything else happened tonight, she felt like she'd walk into the forest.
The flight flicked on, and she used her brightest smile to look at the child.
That is not a normal kid.
What she can only describe as light purple stripes covered the girl's skin. One of her eyes was genuinely yellow; the kid's hands were clearly claws, and small horns grew from her head.
Celine somehow kept her smile.
"Sweetheart, we need to talk about your mom."
If Celine didn't look directly at Rumi, she could pretend that it was a perfectly normal child clinging to her shirt, staining it with her tears.
Celine rubbed circles into the crying girl's back, holding back tears of her own and wondering what her life had come to.