Arin did not notice that Hoshi had opened the door, and the witch had scrambled out of sight. She was too consumed with the flutter in her stomach and the feeling of being kissed by someone she loved. It was truly the most magical thing she had ever experienced.

“We’re ending the session here,” Hoshi said after clearing his throat. “Sorry if I umm… interrupted anything.” He looked between Jun and Arin.

“I… uh… I have to go to the bathroom,” Jun announced and walked away, leaving Arin in the glass room with Hoshi. Arin’s eyes followed him longingly. She didn’t want him to go.

Hoshi smiled at her. “That was great! We got a lot of magic from this session. Your curse is super powerful. More powerful than anything else we’ve ever had!”

After the heart-fluttering experience that preceded this, Arin did not care very much about what Hoshi was saying. She just wanted to see Jun.

“The love potion should fade away in a few hours,” Hoshi said. “Meanwhile, we’ll take you to a room where you can rest. You’ve had a long day.”

Arin didn’t want to “rest.” She wanted to see Jun. She wanted to complain, but didn’t have the voice to do so.

She then became anxious that she freaked Jun out, that she scared him away with her panic attack. She worried that he secretly hated her and found her repulsive.

“Come on, I’ll take you there,” Hoshi said.

Arin trailed behind Jun as he led her through the open underground space. It was not as busy as it was before, probably because it was late afternoon. She found herself scanning the remaining faces to see if maybe Jun was there, but he wasn’t.

Hoshi led her into another corner of hidden corridors that contained many doors. Lewd noises came from behind one of them. Arin was startled, but Hoshi seemed used to it.

“This is the Procreation Unit,” Hoshi explained. “So people get it on in these rooms. The walls aren’t as sound-proof as we would like, unfortunately! Hope the noises don’t bother you too much.”

He opened one of the doors and found it locked. Then went on to another, then another, until he found an open door.

“There we go, this one’s empty!” he opened the door and let her inside.

It was a small room with a king-sized bed, a little fridge and pantry, and a bathroom. It was all green. Arin also spotted a green ghost-like spirit also appear and disappear.

“The spirit is harmless,” Hoshi reassured. “Just don’t walk through it. It’s a bit uncomfortable when that happens… The key is in the keyhole. There’s some snacks in the fridge if you’re hungry. If you need anything, I sleep four doors down, so just knock. Also, feel free to settle in. This room can be yours if you want it.”

Suddenly a sound came from the room next door.

Hoshi grinned, but Arin just looked uncomfortable. “You’ll get used to that!” he said. “There are ear plugs in the drawer if you need them.”

She nodded.

“Okay, I‘ll retreat now. Good night, and see you tomorrow! I have some new experiments I can’t wait to try,” he said.

He stepped outside and prepared to close the door.

“Oh and Arin,” he called out.

Arin lifted her head to acknowledge him.

“Thank you for doing this. You have no idea how much it means to us. And to Jun too.”

She smiled weakly at the mention of Jun. He bowed his head and retreated, closing the door behind him.

It was somewhat of a relief to finally be alone after too much social interaction in one day, but with the spirit appearing and disappearing like a ghost in the air, she didn’t really feel alone. She felt like the spirit was there, watching her, spying on her.

Arin was also becoming increasingly conscious of her lost voice, and it was driving her a little crazy. It wasn’t just that she was unable to talk, but she also couldn’t make any noise. Not even clear . When she gulped down her saliva, it was like was clogged. She began to understand why Larali needed to get out of the room when she did - it really did feel like she couldn’t breathe.

She tried to ignore the feeling. She took a seat on the large bed, which was much nicer and softer than the bed Jeonghan had given her to sleep on for the past three years. Still, she was anything but comfortable. So much had happened, and it made her anxious thinking about them all.

From Jeonghan almost throwing Meemo out the window, to him almost violating her, to finding out that Jeonghan was cursed, to running away from the building by manipulating him, to finding the MRS headquarters, to falling in love.

And she was still very much in love right then. She could not stop thinking about Jun.

She loved him so much that it was hard to be without him. She just wanted to see him.

She opened her phone to read the messages between them again, but was distracted with the loads of other notifications she had to check: Chilli updates, missed calls from Hyojung, panicked messages from Hyojung asking her where she was, and messages from Woozi.

Arin ignored Hyojung, but was compelled to open and read what Woozi had sent.

Hey. Hope you’re doing okay.

I hacked into the security cams in the building and got video evidence of what jeonghan did and how he forced himself on you. You could take him to court and make him pay.

Also, I don’t know if you’d be interested, but I just wanted to offer in case you’re in a pickle and need some help. I have another apartment I’m not using, and I’d be happy to lend it to you temporarily, rent-free, if you’re interested.

He sent the location, address, and combination number.

Please respond, and let me know that you’re okay. I’m a little worried about you.

Arin?

Arin decided to respond.

Thank you for everything. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine, and I have somewhere to stay. And please take care of Meemo for a while.

The noises from the other room were getting louder, and Arin put her fingers in her ear.

To make things worse, the colors that used to look green to her eyes were slowly morphing into purple again. It appeared that the potion Hoshi had given her to make her see green was fading away.

The love potion, on the other hand, wasn’t fading. She wanted it to go away so she could stop missing Jun and stop thinking about him and fall asleep in peace, but he was occupying her every thought. Even Chilli updates couldn’t distract her.

The noises from the other room were not helping at all. They put wild impure thoughts in her head, thoughts about Jun.

At one point, she couldn’t open her eyes anymore because the purple made her want to throw up.

Even when she closed her eyes to block the purple, and closed her ears to block the lewd sounds, she could not escape her own thoughts. She wanted to groan and grunt, but was still clogged. It felt like everything was pressing down on her.

To make things worse, she became increasingly anxious as she grappled with whether or not to trust these people, MRS. She felt like she was trapped there in this purple prison, just like she was trapped in that building with Jeonghan. This time, it felt worse. It didn’t feel like home.

She wondered if they would let her leave if she asked, or if they would force her to stay just like Hyojung did when she finally decided to get out of the building.

She wanted to find out.

She also wanted to talk to Jun. She wanted to text him. She wanted to hear from him. She wanted to see him, kiss him, hold him.

Those two incentives drove her to reach for her phone and open her chat with Jun.

She felt like a teenage girl with a crush, spending so much mental effort trying to decide whether or not to text him or not, overthinking every little thing. Would he find it annoying? Would it be too clingy? Did he secretly hate her? Did he find her repulsive? Would she be interrupting him? Maybe he was texting his actual soulmate, not some pathetic cursed girl under the influence of a love potion…

I can’t stay here, she wrote to Jun. My throat feels so dry, and I can’t breathe because of the curse. The procreating people are too loud. Everything is purple again. I want to leave this place.

It was true that she wanted to leave, but she also wanted an excuse to see him.

He saw the message and responded almost immediately. Hi Arin. What do you mean leave? You don’t mean permanently, right?

Arin felt guilty realizing that she probably worried him with the way she phrased it. She hated the thought of causing him any kind of stress.

No, she wrote. I just mean I can’t spend the night here.

Arin hoped that Jun would offer his place as an alternative, but he didn’t. You can stay in the extraction room if you want. There’s a bed there, and it’s far away from the Procreation Unit.

I can stay at a friend’s apartment building close by, she wrote.

Hyojung?

No. Woozi, she answered.

Your soulmate? Doesn’t he live in Jeonghan’s building?

No, he has another place, and he offered it to me.

That’s nice of him. But are you sure he’s not in danger because of your curse?

He won’t be there.

Alright. It’s your call, Arin. I can lead you to the exit if you want.

Yes! I would really appreciate that.

Arin smiled at the prospect of seeing him again, even just for a minute, and also at the fact they didn’t seem to be trapping her in there after all. She felt a lot less anxious, as if a giant burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

She met Jun in the corridor. She wished it weren’t so purple, so she could look at him properly, but all she could really do was squint.

Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem for long, because he whipped out the sunglasses she had left in Hoshi’s office.

“I figured you’d appreciate these,” he said, as he opened them and placed them over her ears himself.

Arin’s heart fluttered, then she put her hands together to signal her gratitude.

“Your fingers…” he pointed out. “They’re bleeding.”

They were. Arin had not even noticed that she was picking them for so long.

“I hope you’ll be able to relax where you’re going,” Jun said with a small smile. He held out his hand, as if asking her to take it, and she did, happily.

He took her through down the corridor into the open area, which was even emptier now than before.

She realized that she didn’t feel the magic around her this time. She glanced at her bracelet, and it was white. Maybe the potion was fading after all.

He stopped at the base of the staircase she had gone down when she first entered this new world.

“Just go up the stairs, into the reception room, and out the door,” Jun instructed. “If you need anything, don’t be afraid to reach out.”

Arin nodded, and Jun let go of her hand. Arin bowed to him before taking the steps toward the exit.

“I hope I’ll see you tomorrow,” he called out when she was halfway up. “Please don’t disappear on us.”

Arin stopped, then reached for her phone to send him a message. I won’t. I promise.

He smiled when he read it.

I love you, she wrote.

He continued to smile, and wrote back: Good night, Arin.

It was good enough for her. She bowed one last time, then left.

When she was stepped out of the reception room into the outside world, she felt clear and her whole body relax. Finally, there was no purple, just the black of the night.

Finally, she could talk.

She began to test her voice again by singing Chilli songs out loud.

She turned to that little purple cottage that contained a whole new world, and wondered if it was all just a dream.

-

It was really late at night when she made it to Woozi’s apartment. She was exhausted, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

The apartment was a mess, filled with his stuff: his clothes, wires, computers, books, all sprawled out over all the furniture. She didn’t want to touch anything, so she decided to fall asleep on the carpet.

It didn’t take long for her to drift off into a long and much-needed sleep.