Arin lived with ~ for many months while ~ searched for loopholes. Nothing seemed to come up, and if ~ had a hunch, there was no way to test it without risking someone’s life.

But Arin couldn’t live off of ~ forever. She couldn’t bear being anymore of a burden. She needed to find a sustainable way to live with her curse by herself, or she didn’t want to live at all.

“If I’m going to spend the rest of my life leeching off of someone else, then it’s not a life worth living,” Arin told ~ one day.

It was important to her to be independent, and ~ sensed that and worked to grant Arin her wish.

A few days later, she came home from work and told Arin she found her a job. This job didn’t require her to talk to anyone but her boss, the landlord.

“If I know his name, he might die,” Arin expressed her concern.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.”

“How can I not worry? What if the curse kills him?”

“He’s not going to die, Ar.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re definitely going to hate him.”

-

Arin did not have much time to dwell on the sound of her name from his lips.

As soon as they got off the elevator and into his apartment, Jeonghan began to breathe heavily, as if he was gradually losing the air in his lungs and was struggling to take it back in. Suddenly, he lost the strength to hold up his upper body, and then stumbled towards a nearby table, breath getting louder with every second.

He then put a fist over his heart and let out a loud cry of pain.

“W… what’s wrong?” she asked, nearing him cautiously.

“Get out!” he yelled through hisses of pain. “Now!”

“Do you need painkillers?”

“Get out!” he repeated, yelling. “Before I fire you!”

The threat stifled her and made her take a step back from him. His voice was laced with a formidable kind of spite that made her take this threat very seriously.

She bowed and turned to leave, but before she was out the door, Jeonghan had collapsed on the floor. She turned back to him and saw that his teeth were clenched to stop himself from bellowing in pain.

“Leave!!!” he growled through his clenched teeth. The guttural command sent shivers down his spine and chilled her to the bone.

He sounded possessed.

She shivered and hurried out the front door, more afraid of him than ever before. But even as she closed the door, she could not find it in herself to leave. She put her ears against the door and listened.

There were cries and moans and screams. He was in so much pain, and there was no one there to help him. She waited, hoping that the cries would cease, but they didn’t. They only got louder and heavier and more unbearable to listen to.

She didn’t know what to do; she paced back and forth, contemplating whether or not she should call an ambulance or go inside and help him, or whether she should just leave him to suffer alone all by himself.

She couldn’t make a decision; she dialled ~’s number, and was so relieved when ~ picked up.

“Jeonghan is in a lot of pain,” Arin told her as soon as she picked up. “I don’t know what to do,”

“Are you with him?”

“I’m at his door. He told me to get out, but I can hear him. I don’t know what to do. Should I call an ambulance?”

“No, no. Just… get in there and help him,” ~ advised.

“B… but he told me to get out, or he’ll fire me.” And he was scary, Arin thought.

“He doesn’t mean it. Get in there. And keep me updated okay?”

Arin did as ~ advised and re-entered Jeognhan’s home again.

She saw him lying on his stomach, squirming. She knelt down beside him.

“Jeonghan...” she called softly.

“Why the are you here?” he managed to say in between heavy breaths. “Get out!”

She didn’t move.

He then let out another bellow, and tears suddenly fell from his eyes. “Just kill me,” he said as he cried, and it felt like a genuine request, like he actually wanted her to put a bullet through his head and end his suffering.

“I… I’m going to call an ambulance,” she announced, standing up. Jeonghan grabbed her leg and pulled it with so much force that she fell on the ground, knocking her head against the marble floor.

The world spun around her. Her eyes could barely make out Jeonghan standing up and gazing down at her.

“Get the out!” he yelled over at her. “Leave me the alone before I fire you! Before I hurt you. Before I kill you.”

The threats made her fear for her life. She forced herself to sit up and tried to stand, but she was so dizzy that she couldn’t find her balance. Jeonghan pushed her so that she fell again.

“I’m going to give you until the count of 10 to get up! If you don’t, I’ll do to you what that ert couldn’t,” he threatened again with fiendish determination in his voice.

As the spinning in her head slowed, she was able to find her balance and get on her feet. She saw that he had protruding red veins in his eyes, which were wide in a vicious, terrifying kind of way.

She hurried out of the door, fear causing her heart to beat with so much force it made her feel even dizier.

It was like he turned into a monster, like he was possessed by the devil.

Somehow, she knew for sure that magic had something to do with it.