They came up with a plan.

Hyojung was on her way, and was going to enter the building. The enchantment kept out mages, so in order for her to enter, she had to lift the enchantment. There was a one-minute window, starting the moment Hyojung lifted the enchantment, in which they would be able to escape before the magic kept them out again.

Hyojung would go for the stairs, as always. Jeonghan had never let her take the elevator to his apartment, so she always went for the stairs. As soon as she disappeared into the staircase, they would take the elevator, evading Hyojung and making it to the lobby without her seeing them. They would then run out the building before the minute ended.

Arin had arranged, with the phone she snuck past Hyojung’s girlfriend, for a representative from MRS to be waiting for them with a car, just around the corner.

In order for this plan to work, they accounted for as many contingencies as they could. Jeonghan had arranged for the security camera footage to show up on his phone, so that they could see precisely when Hyojung was out of the lobby.

They also waited in the first floor apartment, to minimize the time they needed to travel to the lobby through the elevator. Jeonghan had called the tenant of that apartment and told them they needed to do maintenance on the elevator, so they were going to use his space for a while.

They also decided to hold the elevator. They couldn’t afford to wait for it, so they kept it open on the first floor, standing in the way of the door, not letting it close.

The elevator complained, beeped and made noises, but they kept it open, waiting for Hyojung to arrive as promised.

There was nothing left to do but wait, so Jeonghan and Arin both sat opposite one another at the doorway of the elevator.

Jeonghan was looking at his phone, but he wasn’t scrolling or anything. He was just staring at the screen for a long time. Curious, Arin glanced at his screen and saw that it was a short message from someone.

While looking at this message, Jeonghan had this dead, empty look in his eyes.

“Who is that?” Arin asked him curiously, startling him.

“N...none of your ing business, Missy,” he answered, his voice wavering. Whatever it was, it was clearly troubling him.

She ventured a guess: “is it your mom?”

Jeonghan’s expression darkened when she said that.

Arin didn’t push it. It was clear that talking about it made him uneasy, and she could understand that. He was forced to push his mother away because of his curse, forced to make her hate him. He probably loved her, but he could never show it.

“I hope you’ll be able to tell her you love her one day,” Arin said.

He just scoffed in response.

A few minutes later, Arin felt that familiar freeing sensation overcome her body, which meant that the enchantment was lifted. Jeonghan clearly felt it too, because he immediately went to check the security footage on his phone.

There she was. Hyojung with her long, straight jet black hair and kind eyes, walking through the building door, her girlfriend trailing behind her like a sidekick. As predicted, Hyojung went toward the stairs.

“Now!” Jeonghan said, and they both stood up from the doorway and entered the elevator, which had been held against its will for nearly half an hour.

The door closed. Jeonghan clicked the button that would take them to the lobby.

However, the elevator simply would not move.

“Oh come on!” Jeonghan yelled, clicking on that button repeatedly, but the elevator stood still.

“This is wasting time!” Arin exclaimed nervously. In her head, she was counting down the time. The enchantment would be back in effect in 20ish seconds. They could not afford to deal with a broken elevator.

Jeonghan kicked the elevator, cursing. “ing elevator company!” he yelled. “I’ll sue them! I’ll burn their headquarters to the ground!”

The elevator stayed stuck, and Arin gradually felt the constriction return. The enchantment was back. They were too late. The plan failed.

Jeonghan looked more upset and angry about that than Arin did. He slid down against the elevator wall and buried his head in his knees.

Arin tried to click some buttons herself, but the elevator was just not responding. It seemed as though they angered it into disfunction when they held it open for so long.

Arin let out a sigh and sat down on the floor on the other side of him. She didn’t know what to do anymore. That was her only plan.

“What now?” he asked, lifting his head to look at her. “Are we stuck in this ing building forever? To be used like a ing lab rat?”

Arin shrugged. Hyojung would probably be on the stairs now. It would take her about six minutes to climb to the roof. When Hyojung would realize they weren’t there, she would look in Jeonghan’s apartment. “We can come up with another escape...”

“ it, I’d rather just die in here,” Jeonghan muttered.

Arin began to think up another potential plan, one that would force Hyojung to lift the enchantment. She thought of calling an ambulance; if the paramedics came and wanted to take either of them, Hyojung would have to comply.

The ideation was cut short when Jeonghan suddenly called her name. “Arin.”

Hearing her name on his lips still startled her. She knew something was different when he did that. “Yes?” she said nervously.

“Why haven’t you said my name yet? Since seeing me again, you haven’t said it once.” Even the tone of his voice was different. It wasn’t spiteful or condescending like it usually was, but loaded with sincerity she was not used to hearing from him.

“I…” Arin didn’t know what to say. The truth was, she had subconsciously avoided the name, just in case. She didn’t want it to be an easy word on her tongue, especially since her impression of Jeonghan was progressing.

“I want to die, Arin,” he said. “So please, just say my name...”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Arin said through her shock. “I have to… umm… love you.”

He was silent for a moment, pensive. He then inched closer to her, until he was right beside her. Arin flinched.

“I don’t know if this will work, but I have to try it,” he said, staring at her.

“W...what?”

“I want to see if I can make you love me, so you can help me die already, do what I’ve been too chicken to do myself.”

“Don’t do this. This is a dangerous game you’re playing… and it’s…” Arin paused mid-sentence. She wanted to say that this was an evil thing to subject her to, but she realized then that that was the whole point. It was unkind of him to make her love her, which is precisely why he was able to do it.

“My curse pushed people away from me, even though I craved the company. I hate being alone, and then you came along. I got to see you everyday, and you never left. You were always there, Arin, even though I was awful to you. Before long, I knew I had feelings for you. Genuine, real feelings. I could never tell you about them, until now. I love you, Arin. I’ve loved you for a long time…”

Arin felt her heart skip a beat. “Stop.”

“Is it working?” Jeonghan asked.

Arin covered her ears and buried her head in her legs. She didn’t want to hear anymore. She couldn’t bear to hear anymore. Already, her heart was wavering.

“I love you,” he repeated. She could hear him through her covered ears, so she stuck her fingers in and started singing Chilli songs, just to block him out completely.

She felt him shift beside her. She felt him take her hands, pull them out of her ear. She didn’t fight him, even as he lifted her chin from between her knees.

She couldn’t help but meet his eyes, and immediately as she did that, he closed the distance between their lips and kissed her.

Arin didn’t fight it. She was too shocked to fight it, even letting him pull her closer, let him indulge in her lips as deeply as he wanted.

He was serious about what he said. She could feel it from the way he was kissing her, the way he lingered on her lips, taking in as much of her as could. The way his thumb softly caressed her cheek. The way he continued to kiss her, even though she sat immobile.

The intimacy was making her heart beat and her cheeks turn pink.

He pulled away from her lips and told her he loved her for the third time.

“Say my name,” he urged, eyes locked with hers.

Arin glanced at her bracelet. The color was darker, but still light. “It’s not going to work,” she said.

“Just say it, please,” he begged. “Please, let me just die.”

Just the fact she was able to stop herself from saying it told her that it wouldn’t work even if she did. But still, she was afraid.

He kissed her again, this time more gently. “Please,” he whispered against her lips.

The sincerity of his request made her feel guilty. She didn’t want to deny it to him. A part of her even considered drinking the potion in her pocket and granting him relief from the life he despised so much.

“We’re going to get out of here,” Arin managed to say, pushing away from him. “And we’re going to get you uncursed, and you won’t be lonely or sad anymore. Hold on to the hope for a little longer, okay?”

Jeonghan looked hurt and embarrassed. He moved away from her. “Forget I said anything,” he mumbled.

“Jeonghan…” Arin gasped and covered .

It was a slip-up, one that made them both freeze for a moment, waiting to see what it would unleash. When nothing happened, Jeonghan looked heartbroken.

“You must hate me so much,” Jeonghan muttered under his breath.

Just as he said it, the elevator dinged, and began to ascend.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Shut up, Missy,” he hissed.

The elevator stopped on the eighth floor. The door slid open to reveal Woozi, standing there with a laptop in hand, peering at her.