Arin knew in the depths of her heart that she only felt like this because of the potion, but it was hard to keep that in mind as she faced Jun and felt overwhelmingly weak in the knees around him.

Her whole body reacted. It was like he was glowing all of the sudden, like nothing else in the world didn’t matter anymore but this person, this stranger. As a result, she wanted nothing more than to stay there with him, speak with him, look at him, be with him. In the realest sense of the term, she loved him, and it was so uncomfortable.

“How do you feel?” he asked her. “Did the potion work?”

Arin nodded blankly, still peering at him, trying to get used to the new feeling that was taking over every part of her. She then realized that the reason she felt so different was not just because she loved him, but because there was magic.

She glanced at her bracelet, which was now a deep, dark shade of green.

She felt the magic flow around her and leave something stuck in .

She badly wanted to say his name, but she couldn’t. Jun, Jun, Jun, Jun, Jun, Jun. She wanted to yell it out loud, but it was stuck in .

But the feeling subsided as soon as it came. Larali cleared multiple times and then began to cough.

Jun turned to the young girl with concern.

“Arin wants to say your name,” Larali said hoarsely. “I can feel it in .”

The girl was absorbing Arin’s pain and discomfort. Arin felt guilty for a moment, but even that feeling was gone as soon as it came, and Arin was left to just relish how it felt to be in love.

“Don’t worry about me,” Larali said to Jun, who was approaching her. “Focus on Arin. She’s where the magic is.”

Jun nodded, then turned to Arin.

“So…” he trailed off. “This is awkward.”

It was indeed awkward and uncomfortable to be in love with someone so suddenly. For a moment, Arin felt self-conscious at the state of her ugly hair and clothing, but it appeared that Larali absorbed that as well.

“I really don’t know what to say or do,” Jun said with a shrug. He turned to Yoonsa the witch, and asked “are you getting magic?”

“Yes,” Yoonsa said. “A lot of it. It happens when she looks at you.”

“Okay,” Jun said. “Arin, you can look at me. I give you permission to stare as long as you want,” he said with an awkward chuckle. Seconds later, he shuffled in place and scratched his neck. “This is so weird. And why is there nowhere to sit but a bed?”

“Get on the bed then,” Yoonsa said to him.

“No.”

“Don’t be prude!” Yoonsa laughed, like she was teasing him. “It’s not like you have a girlfriend or anything.”

“You don't know that!”

“Oh, I know more than you think.” The witch raised an eyebrow at him.

Jun’s cheeks flushed pink at that. Arin found it cute.

Everything about Jun was cute to her. Arin found that she was looking at every little thing he said and did. She noticed the way he would smile with the side of his lips. The ways he always moved his fingers. The way his concave of his lips was deeper and more pronounced than most people’s. The way his hair naturally parted over his forehead. The way his tiny earlobe was packed with unoccupied piercings.

She never paid this much attention to anyone before, not even Minghao.

Eventually, he sat down on the floor against the bed, and Arin sat against the glass wall in front of him so she had a clear view of him.

Jun then took out his phone and focused on his screen. Arin wondered what he was looking at. She wanted to know everything about him.

Seconds later, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

Jun looked up at her from his phone and smiled. Arin immediately knew that he had just sent her a message.

She took it out of her pocket. It had been buzzing all day with SNS notifications from Chilli, and messages from people she didn’t really care to think about at the moment. All she wanted to do was see the message from Jun.

She remembered back in high school, when Minghao would send her messages, and she ignored everything else just to talk to him, because when he was talking to her, no one else in the world mattered.

Okay, I have a solution, Jun wrote. It’s weird if you just look at me, especially since we can’t really talk. So… what about we text instead? Like a normal couple lol

Arin smiled at the message, blushing at the word “couple.” Was that what they were?

Yes! Let’s do that, she replied. It feels so uncomfortable not to be able to speak.

Wow, you type fast! Jun noticed.

Yeah, I’m a fast typer. I write a lot of things on my phone.

Like what?

I used to write novels.

Really? On your phone? What kind of novels?

Arin didn’t want to admit that she wrote fanfiction about Chilli. She was afraid of what he would think of her. She couldn’t hesitate for too long though; he was watching her, waiting for her to reply. Love stories, she answered.

Nice! I would love to read some of them.

They’re embarrassing, I could never share them!

Alright, maybe not today.

Arin didn’t know what to reply to that, and the chat went dry for a few seconds, but he quickly asked another question.

How are you feeling? he asked.

In love, I guess.

Haha. How else?

Happy. It’s weird.

That’s good. Larali is a big reason for that. Everyone feels happy when she’s around.

That’s a bit scary as well. How much pain she must feel all the time.

I want her to be cured one day. It’s far down the line, but she really deserves some relief after so many years of pain. I really care about her, and also about Sangbin, who is the person we’re doing this for. He’s the guy who’s dying, whose curse needs to be reversed.

I can tell that you care about these people a lot. I feel a bit jealous of them!

Arin saw that Jun smiled in response to that, which made her smile.

Well, they’re my family, Jun replied. And you’ve joined us, so you're family too.

What about your real family? You’re from China, right?

Yes. I’m from Shenzhen. My mother left me outside a temple when I was a baby. The temple shaman blessed me, then sent me to an orphanage. Eventually, I ran away to Korea.

Why Korea?

I was following the red thread on my finger, searching for my soulmate.

Did you find her?

I did.

Who is she?

Someone you don’t know.

Arin’s heart began to hurt. She was jealous and upset and hated the fact there was someone else. Larali absorbed that too.

I was hoping it was me, Arin typed in response.

I wish! If I were connected to you, I would have found you ages ago. I spent years looking for you, you know! I even went to the graveyard, to see if Minghao was connected to you from his grave. I wanted to follow the thread to you.

Arin’s face dropped at the mention of Minghao.

, Jun wrote. Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought him up so carelessly.

Minghao wasn’t connected to me? Arin asked, remembering how her old friend used to say, with so much confidence, that the two of them were fated to be together, forever.

No, Jun answered. He wasn’t connected to anyone.

It hurt to think that Minghao died without having a soulmate, because of her. Had Larali not been there to absorb Arin’s feelings, Arin knew she would have spiralled into an anxiety attack, but she felt surprisingly okay. She glanced at Larali, and saw, in her eyes, that Larali was the one spiralling instead.

I’m sorry. Jun wrote.

You should apologize to Larali, not me.

Jun turned his head and looked at Larali in a panic, whose head was now buried in her knees. We owe it to her to be happy, Jun typed. Please stop feeling bad, so she can stop feeling bad.

I don’t know how to do that.

After a moment of hesitation, he stood up, and sat right beside her, making Arin’s heart flutter. He took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. “Please feel better,” he said out loud, squeezing her hand.

She blushed and smiled, happy with the proximity. Happy to hold his hand and his gaze. That was what love was: when the stupidest things make you happy.

He broke her gaze to look at Larali. She lifted her head from her knees and was peering at them. “Thank you,” she mouthed.

“It worked,” Jun said, releasing her hand to hold his phone again. Arin then felt lousy again, realizing that he only did all that so that Larali would feel better.

It was stupid that she felt jealous of a 12-year-old cursed girl.

Smart. Arin typed. Taking advantage of my feelings, to make me feel better, so that she would feel better.

Magic makes things so complicated! he replied.

You should keep doing that kind of stuff. For her sake, if not for mine!

She was surprised at how bold she was being, quite literally flirting with him. Was it the magic doing this to her, or was it was just her? She had a feeling it was the latter; She was always more comfortable texting over talking. When she typed, she took on a completely new persona, the one that became known as “Eva,” a shorthand form of her online identity scoups4eva. As she sat beside him, texting him, she didn’t feel like Arin, she felt like Eva, bold, funny, and strong. She loved him, and he knew she did; there was no reason for her to hold back.

Jun blushed when he read the message, then wrote.

Let’s take it slow, he wrote.

I love you, she typed.

That’s not taking it slow! Jun added a laughing emoji. It’s only the first date, slow down!

Date. Arin liked the sound of that.

First we have to get to know one another, Jun added. I’ll start…

Jun was born in Shenzhen. He was raised in an orphanage, brought in by a temple shaman who blessed him. The orphanage was terrible, and treated him like he had a psychological disorder, because he claimed to see red threads of fate. He was placed in a psychiatric facility, where he didn’t belong. He ran away in search of a new home, following the thread on his finger.

Eventually, he found his fated girl in Korea. Jun didn’t Arin much about her, but apparently, the girl was not interested in him, so there was nothing between them. He said he would try to pursue her again some time in the future.

Dasinai found him, sensing that he had special abilities, and invited him to join MRS. He was only 17 when he joined, and since then, he had grown close to everyone there. He said that Dasinai was like a mother to him; Sangbin, the belching man, was like a father; and Larali, like a sister. Everyone here was very special to him, and without them, he would have been a very lonely person with no one in the world.

He expressed how worried he was that Hyojung would destroy this family by severing the portal to the world of spirits, thereby killing off the mages. He said that everyday, the thought of it made him mad, made him want to find this woman and kill her, just so that he didn’t have to worry about it. He said he hated her.

When it was Arin’s turn to tell him about herself, Hyojung had a very different role to play. Until today, Arin thought ~ was her best friend and guardian angel. Now, Hyojung was a stranger.

Don’t talk about things that make you sad! Jun typed. Talk about things that make you happy.

Right now is the happiest I have been in a long time, Arin answered. I’m happy being here with you.

Jun smiled. Is that the potion speaking, or is that Arin speaking?

It’s me, Arin. I like being in love.

Well, I hope you fall in love with someone for real then.

That’s a death wish, remember?

Right. I almost forgot.

I almost forgot too. That’s why I’m so happy. It’s nice to be able to forget, and just love someone, no strings attached.

But there are a lot of strings attached here, Jun reminded her.

You’re right. Poor word choice. There are a lot of strings, but none of them are nooses, and that’s good enough for me.

Well put :)

“Can I stop please?” Larali suddenly said. She sounded sick, and her voice was low and hoarse. “I feel like I can’t breathe anymore.”

Yoonsa reacted immediately and knocked on the glass three times. The door swung open seconds laters, with Hoshi coming in.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Larali can’t breathe,” Yoonsa said. “Get her out.”

Soonyoung beckoned the girl out. She stood up and walked across to the door. “Sorry Arin,” she said, before walking out.

When she left, the door closed behind them. Gradually, all of Arin’s bad feelings returned. Anxiety, self-consciousness, embarrassment, doubt, and terror.

Of all those pesky feelings, anxiety was the worst. There was a knot in , and she couldn’t breathe, because she was compelled to say Jun’s name. She then became anxious that her trapped voice would break free, then she’d say his name and kill him.

She began picking the skin around her nails.

“Don’t do that. You’re hurting yourself,” Jun urged, reaching out to take one of her hands and hold it to stop her.

She was shaking. She didn’t want to look at him, because when she looked at him, it felt like she was going to kill him.

She turned her face and closed her eyes, refusing to look at him. She loved him, and she could never live with herself if the curse worked.

“Arin…” he called out softly. “Are you okay?”

She was not okay. She was agitated. The witch who cursed her was standing right over there. A boy she loved was sitting right beside her, facing a certain death if she said his name. She was trapped in a glass room with a trapped throat. It was too much.

“There’s no magic if she doesn’t look at you,” Yoonsa said.

That voice… it was the voice in Arin’s head, the voice of her curse, and now, it was right there, presiding over her. Why did Arin let this happen?

“Arin…” Jun saids softly. “Look at me.”

She shook her head and buried it in her knees.

“Looks like the pain Larali took away is back,” the witch said again. Arin wanted her to shut up. Actually, Arin wanted her to die.

The witch drew closer toward them, and Arin felt scared for her life. She felt like the witch was going to make her kill Jun, just like she made her kill S.Coups, Minghao, her mother, and Joshua.

As the witch came closer, Arin lunged at her, wanting to do something, anything, to protect herself, and in retaliation for the years of pain. She managed to push the older woman onto the floor, and before she could do anything else, Jun held her and yelled for her to stop.

“Arin, relax, please,” Jun urged as he struggled to keep her still.

Arin struggled against him, but he was too strong. Eventually, he managed to pin her down onto the bed and hold her wrists above her head as she tried to writhe herself free.

“Relax,” he told her as he loomed over her. “You’re having a panic attack.”

She eventually stopped floundering to look at him, and he held her gaze. She loved him, and she really wanted to say his name, but felt like it was irreversibly clogged.

He then closed the distance between their lips and kissed her once, quickly, hesitantly, like he wasn’t sure what he was doing or if he should be doing it. When he saw that it made her less tense, he kissed her again with more confidence.

Even in the middle of this hysteria. Arin felt her heart skip a beat and butterflies flutter in her stomach. She relaxed enough for Jun to let go of her wrists and gently ask her if she was okay now.

She gulped and nodded. When that nod made him step back from her, she wished she answered differently.

She wanted him to kiss her again.

She sat up and saw that he looked flustered. He was on his phone, typing something. A message to her.

She waited, watching him as he typed and erased, typed and erased, typed and erased.

Sorry. I just wanted to calm you down, he finally sent.

It worked, Arin replied. Thank you.

A/N: I’m a bit late this week, I’m sorry. But it’s a long chapter that strayed a little from my original plan so i needed a bit more time to make it work. Hope it was worth the wait!