Archive of Our Own ^beta

Girls’ Night was a bust. 

Mira threw back her head, bumping it against the couch’s backrest. Her long pink hair folded under her head, acting as a thin cushion between her skull and the couch. She groaned at the high ceiling that stared back at her in all its dull glory. Bored and disappointment dragged their claws across her brain. 

It was just her luck. 

Rumi, Zoey and Mira hadn’t had a good Girls’ Night in forever. Whenever they had a free moment from work, one of the Saja Boys was always around—one of the side effects of the three of them dating four out of the five guys. Tonight was supposed to be different, though. They were going to tell their boyfriends to leave them alone for the night and have some much-needed bonding time. 

Zoey had felt guilty about spending the night away from Mystery, though. So she had planned an overnight trip to the beach with Mystery yesterday. Zoey was supposed to return in the afternoon, but there was a problem with Zoey and Mystery’s train, and they had to stay another night out of town. Zoey had offered to change plans and fly home instead, but it seemed like an unnecessary expenditure.

Zoey, Rumi, and Mira had plenty of money, but that didn’t mean they needed to spend it all the time. Plus, Mira suspected Zoey was enjoying her trip with Mystery at the beach. She was constantly sending photos.

It was disappointing Zoey couldn’t make it to Girl’s Night, but at least Rumi and Mira could still celebrate. 

Until Jinu invited Rumi to a concert, that is. 

“He swears he forgot about our plans for tonight.” Contrition was woven in Rumi’s voice and expression as she pleaded with Mira for empathy. “I know we have plans, but since Zoey’s stuck out of town, why not reschedule? Please?” Rumi clasped her hands together. “Jinu is really excited for the concert.” 

What could Mira say? Rumi had made a good point. Plus, she loved Rumi. If Rumi wanted to go to a concert with Jinu, then Mira wouldn’t stand in her way. 

That left Mira at home with no plans. Normally, she would relish the chance to relax and luxuriate, but as she stared at the ceiling, her heart just wasn’t into it. She missed her friends. She missed watching RomComs with them as they relaxed in their comfiest clothes and did each other's nails and hair. She missed playing silly sleepover games like they were teenagers again, stealing back some of those youthful experiences that being Kpop artists and demon hunters had taken from them. 

Her chest ached with longing as she ripped her gaze away from the ceiling to stare at the movie paused on her TV screen. A girl stared frightfully at the zombie boy in front of her. The zombie boy was in the middle of pleading with her to see that he wasn’t a monster, just misunderstood. 

It was corny, cheesy, and romantic.

Mira should have loved it, but she kept pausing the movie to mourn Girls’ Night or to shake off the whispers of doubt that liked to sneak into her thoughts. 

“Alone again.”

“Eventually they’ll abandon you.” 

“All idol groups inevitably fall apart.”

Mira shook her head, clearing out the voices, but it didn’t stop the pang of hurt in her chest. She pushed herself off the couch and headed to the kitchen. Popcorn. Popcorn would solve everything. Of course she wasn’t enjoying the movie when she didn’t have popcorn. 

A beep from her sweatpants pocket drew her attention from her thoughts. She plucked her phone out of her pocket. Her chest fluttered with delight at Romance’s name on the text notification. She hurriedly opened her messaging app as she strolled into the kitchen. 

A picture of Abby dressed in a hoodie sweatshirt and wearing a pair of sunglasses indoors at an arcade greeted Mira. He stood in front of the prize booth counter and pointed at a giant magenta teddy bear with a teal bowtie hanging on the wall of stuffed animals. He wore a mischievous grin, as if he was plotting something. Baby lingered nearby, with one hand stuffed in his shorts’ pocket and the other raised in the peace sign. He looked bored.

Below the image Romance had written: “Found a new bear for your bed, if you’re interested.” 

Mira opened the cupboard where she and the girls kept their snacks. She riffled around until she found a box of microwavable popcorn. She slipped one of the individual bags out, freeing it from its plastic wrap and shaking the bag out before shoving it into the microwave. Mira punched the button for popcorn. The microwave hummed to life, and she returned her attention to her phone. 

“Cute!” She typed. “But you and Abby are going to have to fight each other for a spot on the bed now.” 

“I’ll sleep on top of Abby,” Romance responded. Another message popped up from him after. “We won’t leave here until we’ve won you that bear.”

Mira’s lips curled as happiness pooled in her stomach. “Dang. Guess I’m a single woman now.”

Mira waited a bit to see if Romance would respond right away to her text. When he didn’t, she returned her phone to her pocket. Her movements were lighter as she searched another cupboard for a bowl. She hummed to herself as she playfully spun around the kitchen, rehearsing a few dance moves as she waited for the microwave to finish. 

Her phone beeped two seconds before the microwave did. Mira checked her phone again to see that Romance had sent her another image. She opened it and laughed. 

Romance had turned the camera on himself. His tortoiseshell glasses slipped down his nose as he pouted. He was pressed cheek to cheek with Abby, who was sticking out his tongue and flashing the middle finger at the camera.  

Fondness squeezed Mira’s heart, making it thump in her chest. Her boyfriends were just too cute and funny. Something about seeing them in their “civilian disguises” added to the effect. Abby tried to hide himself in baggy sweats and monotone colors, avoiding his love of bold hues. Romance stuck to jeans and graphic T-shirts and avoided anything fashionable, but he often couldn’t resist accessorizing, like he had with his glasses. 

A new message from Romance popped up. “‘You’re not getting rid of us that easily -Abby’”.

Mira’s heart gave a happy twist. “Good. Get me that bear.” 

“Your wish, our command.”

Mira stared at the message and photos for a bit, simply enjoying them. If someone a year ago had told her she’d be getting sentimental over a couple of guys, she would have rolled her eyes and dismissed the comment. If that same person had said that she’d be dating two demons, she’d be torn between ramming her Gok-Do into the person’s gut and worrying about their sanity. 

There were a lot of things her younger self had been ignorant about. It had been a bitter pill to swallow, but she was happy that she’d learned. It had strengthened her bond with her girls, and it had led to her gaining more friends. 

Even if those friends were a handful of demon guys that vacillated between being sweet and charming to cocky and competitive rivals.   

Taking the popcorn and dumping it into her bowl, Mira happily returned to the living room with her salty treat in hand and a few napkins she’d snagged along the way. She tossed a few kernels into her mouth and then unpaused the movie. She sank into the wonderful melodrama of the film. 

During the climatic dance battle between zombies and cheerleaders, another beep came from Mira’s phone. She didn’t bother pausing the movie. She whipped out her phone and opened her messages. 

Romance had sent her a video. She pressed play. 

Abby wound up his arm and threw a ball onto the Skee-Ball machine’s ramp. The ball rolled up the lane toward the hump, leaped over the hump and landed in the lowest tier of the bulls-eye rings. “Oh, come on!” Abby threw his arms up in exasperation. 

At the same moment, Baby tossed his ball onto the lane next to Abby’s. Baby’s ball rolled, made its jump, and landed in the center of the bulls-eye. Baby pumped his fist in the air. “Easy.” 

Mira sent a laughing gif. 

A few minutes later, Romance texted her again. 

“Abby says I’m ruining Girls’ Night.” He added a sad-face emoji at the end. 

Mira hesitated. Everything with Rumi had happened so fast and at the last minute, she hadn’t thought to mention to Romance and Abby that Girls’ Night had been canceled. Honestly, she would have thought they would have found out through Jinu.  

Romance and Abby seemed to be having fun, and she didn’t want to put a damper on their evening. “You’re not. Abby’s just jealous that he’s not texting me.” She hit send. 

A minute later her phone beeped again with a message from Abby. 

“Hey, gorgeous.” Abby sent a winky face sticking its tongue out. 

Mira rolled her eyes. “Classy.” 

Abby sent a picture of himself eyeing the camera with a sultry look. “Don’t hate me because I’m stealing your man.” 

“Keep him. I’m having a party with myself tonight.” 

“Can we come too?” Abby quickly asked.

“Depends. Have you won the bear yet?” 

“I’M GONNA WIN THAT BEAR!!!!!” 

“You better.” Mira chuckled to herself as she set her phone down in her lap. Her bowl of popcorn sat on the cushion next to her. Only a few kernels were left at the bottom, which she snacked on as the movie drew to its conclusion and the credits rolled. 

She wiped her hands clean on a napkin when her phone beeped again. She was pleasantly surprised when Zoey’s name lit up her screen in the group chat between Huntr/x and The Saja Boys.

Her text came with an image of her and Mystery pressed together in a side hug as Zoey held up the phone away from them to get the best angle of them with a sunset and the beach behind them. The two of them were smiling—Zoey at the camera, and Mystery at Zoey. The guy’s bangs were always covering his eyes, but everything about his posture told Mira that if she could see those eyes, they’d be shimmering with adoration. 

“Had a fun day at the beach. Sounds like the train is fixed, so we should be home tomorrow. Sorry about messing up everyone’s plans.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mira sent off. “Not like you could control it.” 

“But I still feel bad,” Zoey said. 

“At least you’re not obsessing over winning a bear like these losers.” Baby sent a photo of Abby and Romance playing whack-a-mole, their brows furrowed in concentration as they played.  

Zoey reacted to the image with laughter. 

“Everyone’s having a fun night.” Jinu added a photo of him and Rumi at an outdoor concert. Both of them wore baseball caps and glasses to obscure their faces. Jinu had his arm wrapped around Rumi’s waist, pulling her in close. Rumi, in turn, had wrapped her arm around him. They looked cozy and happy, and Mira was glad that she’d let Rumi cancel Girls’ Night. 

Sure, it had been disappointing at first, but Rumi looked so happy and carefree with Jinu. Rumi worked so hard every day; she deserved a moment of respite, and if Jinu could give her that moment, then Mira was happy for her. 

“Hold up. That’s not an old photo, is it?” Abby asked. 

Realization struck Mira like a bolt of lightning. 

Oh.

Oh. 

Romance and Abby had suspicions about Girls’ Night. 

 “It’s from tonight,” Jinu answered.

In less than a minute, Mira’s phone was ringing and displaying Abby’s photo on the screen. At the same time, a text notification from Romance popped up saying, “Mira, you minx.” 

Mira answered the call and put it on speaker. The ruckus of the arcade poured out of the phone. “Hi,” Mira said, her brain unable to come up with a more creative response when she’d been so thoroughly caught.  

“When were you going to tell us you got ditched?” Abby’s voice came over the phone. 

Mira winced at the word “ditched.” She was happy for Rumi, but her old abandonment wound was still tender. “When you guys finished at the arcade.” 

“But we could have spent the night with you,” Romance hollered over the celebratory ring of one of the arcade machines. 

Mira rubbed the back of her neck, feeling sheepish. “I promise I wasn’t trying to hide it or anything. Rumi told me about the concert at the last minute, and I didn’t think to call you guys right away.” Mira wrestled with herself. She wasn’t great at the whole being-vulnerable-thing, but if she wanted to make her relationship with Romance and Abby work, she had to bare her soul a bit. “I was busy sulking, okay? I was really excited for Girls’ Night,” she grumbled the latter. 

There was a pause on the other end of the line that was filled with distant laughter, shouting and music. 

“We’re coming over,” Abby announced. 

“But you still haven’t won that bear for me,” Mira said light-heartedly, hoping to soothe any anger her boyfriends might feel with humor. 

“We’re getting the bear and coming over,” Abby stated. “We’re bringing Baby too.” 

“Why do I have to go?” Baby whined in the background. Romance said something in response, but Mira couldn’t make out his words with all the noise. 

“Get comfy,” Abby said, then hung up.

Excitement sent her head reeling as scenes straight out of a RomCom flashed through her mind. Abby appearing on her balcony with teddy bear in hand, proclaiming his undying love for her. Romance running through the rain to get to her, racing up Huntr/x tower, bursting through the elevator doors, and embracing her like he hadn’t seen her in years, his white shirt drenched and clinging to his body. Abby, Romance, and her dancing in the kitchen as they tried to cook a cake but ended up covered in flour instead. The three of them curled up on the couch, exchanging slow kisses that made her toes curl with anticipation for something more. 

Embarrassment washed over Mira at her mental conjurings. It wasn’t even raining. Also, even if Abby technically could show up on her balcony, he’d sooner tease her and act like a goofball than declare his undying love. 

Still, it was nice to imagine. 

Especially after years of feeling like fantasy was all she had. Being a Kpop artist made dating challenging enough. Throw in demon hunting, and it was practically impossible. 

But what had always made dating feel so impossible was herself. 

Mira’s chest ached. 

For years, she’d felt too sharp—too tough. No one could get through her defenses, and the few that did became people who she had to protect. Not just from people or demons who would do them harm, but protect them from herself. Because if she got too close, she’d hurt them with all of her sharp edges. 

Except Abby and Romance hadn’t cared. They’d thought it was fun to mess with her—they enjoyed seeing her edges, even if it meant that their pride took a hit from time to time. They always came back smiling and asking for more.  

Mira stood up, picking up the popcorn bowl and hugging it to her chest. She took it to the kitchen and rinsed it out, watching the clock on the microwave even though she knew that not enough time had passed for Romance, Abby, and Baby to have made it to the tower. Once she finished rinsing the bowl, she returned to the living room and scrolled through all of her streaming apps for another movie to watch. She saw several that interested her, but she couldn’t bring herself to click on them. She kept thinking about Abby and Romance instead. 

A soft ping from the elevator was the only warning Mira got before the doors rolled open. Abby and Romance harmonized as they sang, “Your princes are here~”

Mira launched off the couch and whirled to face them.

Abby, Romance, and Baby were all dressed in animal onesies. Romance was dressed in a pink frog onesie and toting a large makeup bag over his shoulder. Abby wore a dog onesie, carrying a pack of beer in one hand, and two large pizza boxes in the other. Beside him, the giant magenta bear from the arcade obscured half of Baby’s body, but Mira was certain Baby was wearing a green snake onesie. 

Baby outstretched his arms, shuffling the bear over to Mira. “They couldn’t win this without my tickets, so I made them promise to let me give it to you.” Baby smirked at Mira. “Which means I get your gratitude and not them.” 

“Hey! You couldn’t win it for her by yourself either!” Despite Abby’s harsh words, his tone was playful as he carried the pizza and beer over to the kitchen and set them on the counter. 

Mira took the big bear from Baby. It wasn’t a high-quality teddy bear. It was made of cheap materials, but it was soft, squishy, and something that her boyfriends and Baby had worked hard to get for her. 

She loved it. 

Mira squeezed the bear around its waist and fiddled with its bowtie. “So cute.” 

“Not as cute as me, though.” Romance strode up to Mira and wrapped an arm around her waist in a loose hug. He kissed her cheek. 

Warmth rushed to the spot where Romance’s soft lips had contacted her skin. Her stomach twisted with delight. They’d been dating for months now, but Romance’s small acts of affection were just as endearing as they’d been when their relationship had begun.

“I don’t know,” Mira’s voice took on a teasing lilt. She picked up the bear’s arm and waved it at Romance. “He’s pretty cute.”

Romance gasped in mock hurt. He held up his makeup bag. “Then it’s a good thing I brought makeup. You’ll just have to make me look as cute as our new bedmate.” 

“Dibs on the pink nail polish.” Abby popped open the pizza box, and the smell of cheese and tomato sauce wafted through the air. Abby maneuvered around to grab a small stack of plates from the cupboard. “It goes with my hair.”

Mira rolled her eyes. “It goes with all our hair.”

“Yeah, but mine is better.” 

Romance huffed, sounding truly offended. “You take that back.” 

Abby set a couple of pizza slices on a plate. “Never.” 

“Enough talking! Movie time.” Baby, free of Mira’s bear, scurried onto the couch, leaping over the backrest and onto the cushions below. He snatched up the remote and scrolled through the streaming platforms. 

Romance extracted himself from Mira. He sashayed his way to the couch, setting his makeup bag on one of the cushions. “I hope you don’t mind that we made a few pit stops along the way.” Romance tugged on his onesie. “We needed to be properly dressed for Girls’ Night.”

“We thought about wearing dresses, but onesies are more comfortable.” Abby brought over a plate of pizza to Mira. A confused frown spread over his features as he eyed Mira’s arms, which were completely occupied by her new teddy bear. After a moment, he smiled at her. “Take a seat already, so I can give you this.” Abby lifted the pizza to Mira’s face. 

Mira did as told. She set her new bear on the couch beside her and snuggled up to it like it was a pillow. Once she was settled, Abby handed over the plate. 

A scream from the TV stole Mira’s attention. A horror movie trailer played on the screen. Baby watched the trailer intently. 

Romance scoffed and nudged Baby’s shoulder. “Horror after we’ve had pizza,” he said, then sashayed toward the kitchen. 

Mira’s interest piqued. She loved horror, but Rumi and Zoey were not as into it. “We usually watch romances if we’re not watching turtle documentaries. Can you find any that are a romantic horror?”

Baby wrinkled his nose in distaste. “That sounds awful.” 

“Suck it up.” Mira stretched her leg across the couch and lightly kicked Baby’s thigh. Baby huffed at her antics, then resumed scrolling through the horror movie section of the streaming service he was on. 

“Mira, would you like a beer or something else?” Romance hollered from the kitchen where he was helping Abby prepare plates of food. 

“Juice, please,” Mira shouted back.  

“Sure thing, beautiful.” Romance’s tinkling laughter followed his words. Soon, he and Abby returned to the living room with their arms full of plates, beer bottles, and a can of grape juice. 

Mira took the grape juice, then curled up like a contented cat against her new bear with her pizza in her lap. Abby snatched up the spot next to her on the couch while Romance was distracted handing Baby his beer and pizza.

Abby’s side pressed against hers, merging his body heat with hers. He always ran hot, but he felt like a furnace right then. The savory aroma of pizza easily overpowered his cologne, but their proximity made it so Mira could catch just the faintest whiff of its citrusy scent. 

Romance let out an exasperated huff at Abby, which caused Abby to grin smugly at Romance. “Should have moved faster if you wanted to be the meat in this sandwich.”

Instead of falling for the taunt, Romance matched Abby’s smile with one of his own. It was less smug, but still confident. “It’s fine. You’ll need me in the middle when we do our nails. We all know I am the best one here when it comes to manicures.”     

“Yeah, yeah,” Abby responded dismissively. 

Romance seated himself next to Abby, pushing himself obnoxiously close to Abby’s side. With a huff, Abby wrapped his arm around Romance’s shoulders, pulling Romance in closer until there wasn’t an inch of space between them.

Baby stopped scrolling through the horror section of the streaming service and clicked over to the romance section. He clicked on the first movie to pop up. As the movie loaded in, he tossed aside the remote and shoved half his pizza into his mouth. 

The movie was pretty standard. A young girl down on her luck was striving to fulfill her long-held dream when she met an aloof, secret-billionaire guy. They don’t get along at first; however, over time they fall in love.  

It was everything Mira wanted in a romance movie—the drama, the tension, the over the top reveal. It was perfection.

Soon after the movie began, Mira and the guys finished their pizza. They cleared out the dirty dishes, and then Romance unpacked his makeup bag. He whipped out four packages of facial masks and demanded that everyone wear one. They all needed to clean their pores after all the grease they’d consumed, he claimed. 

What followed was an evening of pampering. With their faces covered in face masks, the four of them did their nails. It was a wonderful mess, with Abby and Baby goofing around and using the nail polish to draw on themselves. Romance sighed and chastised them, but his mirth at their antics shone brilliantly. 

As Mira waited for her nails to dry and Romance helped Abby do his nails, Baby jokingly offered to braid her hair. The joke was on him when a few minutes later he was combing through her hair and grumbling about how thick it was. 

“You could break a damn comb on your hair!” He popped the handle of the brush into his mouth, freeing up both his hands to separate her hair. He then popped it back out to brush out one of the sections he’d created. “Your hair is half your weight.” 

Romance gasped excitedly. “Huntr/x should do a princess-inspired album, and you can be Rapunzel.” 

Mira scowled. “Hell no.” 

“Do it! Do it! Do it!” Abby cheered. 

“Ugh.” Mira rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth lifted in a smile. She wasn’t a fan of the princess theme, but Abby’s delight was infectious. 

When Romance finished doing Abby’s nails, Abby tried to get Romance to let him braid his hair. 

“And ruin all of my hard work?” The offense in Romance’s voice was hard to miss. “You’ll have to wait until they dry.”

Abby pouted but did as he was told. The moment his nails had dried though, he grabbed a few hair ties out of Mira’s bathroom and started working on braiding Romance’s hair. 

By the time the romance movie ended, Romance had finished his work on his nails and had moved onto Baby’s. Meanwhile, Abby had taken Baby’s place braiding Mira’s hair. A horror movie played in the background as Abby played with her hair, adding long slender braids to hair. Mira didn’t have a mirror—the guys could be making her look like absolute trash, but she didn’t care.

She was having fun. 

As the pampering fest drew to an end, all four of them gathered on the couch. Baby had curled up at one end of the couch, and Mira was on the other with her teddy bear acting as a pillow. Romance lay splayed half on top of her. His head rested in her lap, and she ran her fingers through his hair. Abby mimicked Romance’s pose, with Romance as his demon pillow. 

Romance’s chest rose and fell gently; he was asleep. Mira’s shirt had ridden up, and with every exhalation from Romance, she felt his warm breath brush across her skin.

Abby craned his head in Romance’s lap to look up at Mira. He grinned. “So how was Girls’ Night?” 

A terrified scream from the movie punctuated his question. 

Mira smiled back at him. Her chest felt so light yet so full of contentment. “Perfect.”