When Arin first started working for Jeonghan, she couldn’t wait for the day he would go on vacation or something, so she didn’t have to deal with him every single day.

But it was only after working for him for many months that she realized how naive that wish had been. Jeonghan didn’t even go out for the night let alone out for a vacation. He was almost always in his apartment, working, playing games, watching movies, or typing things on his computer. He even had a private chef that lived on the fourth floor, and so he didn’t even go out for groceries.

Arin quickly realized that Jeonghan was a very lonely person. No one ever visited him, nor did he go out to meet people. He just didn’t have anyone.

In all the time she worked for him, she only witnessed one person come and visit him. Arin was cleaning his bathroom when she heard someone ring the doorbell and overheard the conversation that proceeded. It was his mother.

He refused to let her in. Through the speakers, he sweared at her and told her to leave him alone and never contact him again. The mother ran off crying.

A few minutes later, Arin finished cleaning and left the bathroom. She saw that Jeonghan was still standing there, tense in front of his doorbell screen. His eyes were wide and glistening, expressing an emotion she rarely ever saw from him: sadness.

She figured he had a rocky childhood and a messy family. Small wonder he turned out so bitter and lonely.

-

Arin woke up to her phone buzzing multiple times. It was Woozi sending many urgent-sounding messages:

Are you awake???

Something weird just happened?

Okay, so just to give you context, I left my door open and Meemo escaped. I wanted to look for her so I hacked into the security footage. I’ll send it to you so you can see for yourself. This took place today at 5am.

Woozi sent a two-minute clip of security footage from outside one of the doors. Meemo was there.

In the video, Meemo was scratching and clawing at one of the building’s doors. Shortly after, the door opened; it was Jeonghan.

Arin gasped.

It seemed Jeonghan had been discharged from the hospital and returned that night. He had a hospital band on his wrist and a bandage around his head.

He stood at the door, looking down at Meemo. Arin’s heart rate accelerated as she began to expect the worst: that Jeonghan would hurt Meemo, throw her out, or even kill her.

But instead Jeonghan knelt down and began to pet her head. She purred against his touch, then he picked her up, put her against his chest and... kissed her head?

Arin was so confused, and had to look again to make sure that it was really Jeonghan. What she was seeing did not make sense. Why was he being so kind and compassionate with her cat? A cat that meant someone in the building had broken his rules?

The footage ended with him carrying the cat up the stairs, toward the roof.

Wait, there’s more, Woozi texted, before sending security footage from in front of her own door on the roof. In the video, Jeonghan placed Meemo there, and went back downstairs.

Arin heart stopped at what that implied: he knew it was her cat? And he was returning it to her? No anger? No fury? No salary cuts?

She dropped her phone and rushed toward the door. Meemo was sleeping right there where Jeonghan left her.

Arin picked up her cat and hugged her, afraid to let go. Meemo meowed and wriggled out of Arin's arms and went back to sleep on the floor.

Arin still couldn’t shake the shock of discovering that Jeonghan knew about Meemo, and seemed to have known it for a while. Was he pretending not to know about Meemo all this time?

There were so many mysterious things happening around Jeonghan lately: from his strange possessed state, to how he couldn’t fall to his death, to the fact he was being kind to her cat, and therefore kind to Arin by letting her keep Meemo even though it was explicitly against the rules.

She was tired of all the mystery. She just wanted answers.

She left Meemo asleep and went out the door toward the 13th floor. “Jeonghan, are you in here?” she yelled as she knocked. She felt strangely bold; just yesterday, she wouldn’t have dared be so brazen approaching him during the early morning hours and loudly disturbing his peace.

He opened the door a minute later. He did not look nearly as prim and proper as she knew him. Her hair was a mess around the gauze tied around his head. His face was pale, and there were bags under his eyes. He was obviously still weak, not having had time to recover since his failed suicide attempt the day before.

“What do you want?” he asked her tiredly in the irritated and condescending voice she was used to.

“How did you know about Meemo?” Arin asked firmly.

He paused for a moment, then narrowed his eyes at her. “What the ’s a Meemo?”

“You know Meemo. Stop pretending you don’t!”

“I don’t know what the you’re talking about, Missy. So why don’t you just shut the hell up and leave me alone.” He pushed the door to shut it in her face, but she managed to stop it and force herself inside.

“I saw you put Meemo outside my door,” Arin told him. “You knew where she belonged. You knew she was mine.”

Jeonghan seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say, and suddenly he began to shake. “You…” he stammered. “Your cat?”

“You knew she was mine!”

“You… you kept a cat here?”

Why was he acting surprised? Arin felt the terror rise up in . What if he didn’t know? What if he just put the cat on the roof because he didn’t know where else to put her? Did she just expose herself? “I…”

Jeonghan’s entire expression changed. With flaring nostrils and eyes wide with rage, he stormed past her, up the stairs and toward the roof.

Arin sprinted to stop him. “Where are you going?”

“To kill your cat,” he answered.

“No!” she yelled, grabbing hold of his shirt and pulling him back down.

“You deliberately disobeyed me!” he yelled. “Now, you’ll face the punishment!” He pushed her so hard she fell, and continued up the stairs to where Meemo was. By the time Arin regained her balance and ran up, Jeonghan was already in her home, holding Meemo by the skin of her neck.

Arin was as confused as she was terrified. She had just seen Jeonghan in this morning’s security footage, holding and kissing Meemo. Now he was holding her in this heartless paralyzing way, as if she were vermin. It didn’t make sense.

“What is wrong with you?” Arin asked him, now in tears. “Please put her down...”

Jeonghan was still shaking at this point, but not from anger. The stutter in his voice made that clear. “I have to.”

He walked past her, still holding a helpless Meemo in his hand as he walked toward the edge of the roof.

“Stop please!” Arin begged rushing toward him, grabbing his arm and trying to stop him from doing the unspeakable thing he was threatening.

He was too strong for her though, and no matter how much she sobbed and begged and yelled, it didn’t stop him. He was now standing by the ledge, holding Meemo by her neck, his arm extended over the edge of the building. If he let go, Meemo would fall to her death.

“I hate you!” she hissed through her tears. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.”

Those words seemed to have sent a jolt through Jeonghan’s body, as the shaking suddenly intensified. So much so, that Jeonghan couldn’t stand still anymore. With a jerk, he pulled his arm in, and Meemo was thrown to the floor. Meemo bolted inside.

Arin was relieved, but the burning hatred for him didn’t subside though. She really wished he would die there and then. She wished she could throw him over the edge for even thinking to threaten to kill Meemo.

“,” Jeonghan hissed under his breath, and he collapsed onto the floor, holding his chest and hissing as if he were in pain. Arin had no sympathy for him.

“I hate you,” she spat at him.

“As you should!” he yelled in a voice that was so hoarse and loud it sent shivers down Arin’s spine. “I’m safe because you hate me, right?”

Arin froze at those words. What did he mean by that?

He began to laugh hysterically. “Why am I even doing?” he seemed to be talking more to himself than anyone else.“I don’t want to live. Why should I care so much about what you think?” He groaned in pain.

“What… what do you mean?” she asked him.

Jeonghan seemed to be in too much pain to say anything, even though he wanted to. He was now squirming on the floor, holding his heart and crying.

“Jeonghan…”

“Just get away from me,” he muttered under his breath.

She was beginning to feel concerned for him. He looked the same as he did the night before, with his writhing body and protruding eyes that made him look almost devilish. Possessed.

“What is happening to you?!” she yelled. She knew this wasn’t natural; this wasn’t some random medical condition. She could feel the dark magic swirling around her, familiar to her bones and body, always preceding a disaster.

It was then that he finally said it: “I’m cursed!” he cried out. “I’m ing cursed.”

Arin stood blankly as she processed this.

“Get the away from me now!”

She didn’t want to get away. She wanted to stay. She wanted to understand. She also wanted to stop whatever was happening to him, because she could tell it was making him suffer the same way her curse made her suffer. Or maybe even worse.

She had never cried like he cried. Never screamed like he did. Never writhed in pain like he did.

He suddenly came at her, charging at her like a feral animal, and she knew that it wasn’t Jeonghan doing this, it was someone else, something else.

The possessed Jeonghan pinned her down on the ground, then kissed her lips hungrily. Arin whimpered under him, trying but failing to wriggle herself from under him. When she failed, she just dissociated from her body in fear of what was to come.

“Hey!”

Arin was never so happy to hear Woozi’s voice.

Woozi was standing there at the side, watching in horror.

“Get off of her!” he yelled. “Get off, or I’m calling the police.”

Jeonghan did heed the threat. He tumbled off her body and stood up to face Woozi. “Mind your own ing business!” he roared.

“What the hell is wrong with you!” Woozi yelled, limping toward her with his bad ankle.

“I recommend you get the away from here!” Jeonghan demanded.

Woozi ignored him and instead asked Arin if she was okay. Arin was shaking and wide-eyed, lying helplessly on the floor. She could barely manage to think let alone say anything.

The sight of her like this seemed to amuse Jeonghan, or whoever this person was. He let out a devilish laugh and pointed at her jeeringly.

“You peed your pants!” he taunted. Arin hadn't even noticed, but it was true. He continued to laugh as if it were the funniest thing he had ever witnessed, adding to her complete and utter mortification.

“What is your problem? Leave her alone!” Woozi defended her.

“I will. I’m not going to ing touch her now. Nasty . Get up and clean the floor!” He spat in her face, and left.

When he was gone, Woozi came closer to make sure she was alright.

When Arin finally collected herself and her connection with her body, she sat up and just began to cry.

“Come on, get up,” Woozi offered her his arm. She shook her head. She was embarrassed and mortified and couldn’t even look him in the eye. “Arin…”

“Leave me alone, please.”

“Okay,” he said softly. “But when you’re ready to talk, let me know. I’ll help you report him to the authorities.” He bowed and left her alone to her shame.