It was like the world around them did not exist. That there was a whole host of mages watching their intimate moment slipped her mind, and they were the only two people in the world. She even forgot she was in love with someone else. Right now, all that mattered was that gratifying heat between their bodies.

For two people who had never kissed like that in their lives, Arin couldn’t believe how easy it was for them to find a rhythm that worked. It was not just his lips, but his hands too. They her back and lingered around her waist, and every touch felt planned and perfect.

Jeonghan then pulled his head back to break the contact between their lips. “I love you,” he said in between heavy draws of breath.

Larali yelled and writhed on the floor, and that pulled them both out of their trance.

“I can’t take it anymore. I’m sorry,” Larali said. There were tears streaming down her bloodshot eyes as she lay there on the floor.

Hoshi barged through the door.

“Jeonghan, back to the chains,” he ordered. “Now!” he yelled when Jeonghan hesitated. “When Larali leaves this room, you’ll be possessed by the devil, so cooperate!”

Jeonghan did cooperate. He threw one last gentle look at Arin before going to the platform where both Yoonsa and Hoshi chained him up as Larali took in the last of the pain.

When he was done, Hoshi picked the girl up and carried her away.

Arin watched as Jeonghan’s gentle eyes turned demonic, protruding out of his sockets enough for her to see the veins in his eyes. The yielding relaxed body she had touched was now tense and violent.

He turned into the devil, but he was a devil in chains who could not hurt her. When escaping the chains proved unfruitful, he yelled lewd expletives and disturbing threats about what he was going to do to her. It was hard to believe that such odious things were being uttered by the same face that had just kissed her and told her he loved her.

-

It was 8pm when she finally went home. They had extracted a lot of magic from the session that day, even though the love potion didn’t work as planned.

Arin had Woozi on her mind that night. Guilt bore into her subconscious, and she couldn’t help it. It felt like she had betrayed her own heart by being so intimate with Jeonghan.

The whole thing was ridiculous. She knew in her mind she shouldn’t feel guilty; these were all manufactured feelings that had no bearing on reality. But no matter how much she grappled with that, the feelings for Woozi still seemed far too real. Even if she knew she would wake up the next day and forget all about him, for now, she couldn’t imagine that.

It was not only her heart that she betrayed, but Jeonghan too. Had she led him on? Made him think there was a spark that wasn’t there?

But there was a spark. Arin had felt it in the pit of her stomach, awakening feelings in her she didn’t know she could feel. The truth was that kissing Jeonghan so ardently left her feeling bare and craving more, from anyone, not just him in particular.

-

Hey, she got a text from Woozi that night. Are you up?

Arin nearly gasped when she saw the message, and her anxious heart thought up a thousand different responses. She felt like a lovestruck teenager whose crush had just messaged her. She drew in a deep breath and typed out a Yes.

So I was thinking, since the curse doesn’t work on me for whatever reason, could we meet tonight? I know you’re tired, but I really want to talk to you.

Of course, Arin wanted to see him. Ever since she fell in love with him that moment she drank the potion, she had seen him all but two minutes before he was gone, so she happily agreed to meet him.

-

Arin really wanted to look good for him, but she only had four changes of clothes, all of which he had seen her in. She had no make-up, no perfume, not even a hair tie to keep her frizzy hair out of her face.

All Arin could do was take a shower, brush her hair, and wear something relatively clean and untainted, a hoodie that was a little worn at the sleeves.

As she waited for him to arrive, she did not even notice herself picking the skin around her nails again, further injuring her already damaged fingers.

Woozi arrived at her door within 20 minutes carrying a gift bag. Meemo ran to him when she saw him, then purred against his leg. He knelt down and pet her. “Hey Meemo. I missed you, girl.”

Arin smiled and her heart swelled tenfold. It was wonderful to see the person with whom she was in love be on such great terms with her cat.

He finally looked at her. “Hi Arin,” he greeted with a wide smile.

“Hello,” Arin responded. It felt strange to speak after being stuck in MRS for so long using nothing but nods and gestures. It also felt strange to be under the effect of the potion and totally in love, yet able to speak to the person with whom she felt it.

Arin felt no strain in , no magic manipulating and controlling her. The color on her bracelet remained a beautiful, clear, safe white.

Woozi took a seat on the living room sofa, and Meemo followed him. The cat ended up snuggling into his lap and falling asleep.

“Sorry about that,” Arin said, taking a seat beside him.

“Oh no, this is great. I love watching her sleep,” Woozi said, staring down at the sleeping cat with a smile on his face.

Woozi’s eyes then wandered to the worn-down fingers on Arin’s lap, which she was unknowingly still hurting with her nails as the nerves got to her. He reached out and took her hands, preventing her from further hurting herself. “Please stop doing that.”

His hands were warm compared to hers. Arin wished he wouldn’t let go, but he did.

“I looked it up, and apparently there’s a name for compulsive finger-picking. It’s called ‘dermatillomania.’ Did you know that?”

He cared enough to search it up, and that made her heart flutter.

“One blog I read recommended gloves to keep it from happening, so…” he grabbed the gift bag he had brought with him and handed it to her. “I got you these.”

Arin took the bag, eyes wide with wonder. She opened the bag and saw a pair of gloves inside.

“They’re supposed to be very comfortable and good for everyday use. You can even use your phone with them on, apparently.”

Arin held the gloves in her hand, at a loss for words. “Thank you,” she managed to say. “Really, thank you.”

He smiled. “Not a problem.”

Arin clutched the gift tight to her chest. The gloves were soft and warm and wonderful. She slipped them on, wanting to gratify him, to show him she appreciated the gift and would use it.

She regretted it though, because now he no longer had an excuse to hold her hand.

-

“So what happened in there after I left?” Woozi eventually asked. The question unsettled her. How was she going to tell the person she supposedly loved that she made out with someone else?

“Well… we extracted magic,” Arin answered, evading the details.

“So, did you have to be ‘intimate’ with Jeonghan?”

Arin pursed her lips awkwardly and nodded her head.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what does that entail, exactly?”

“Like… kissing,” Arin mumbled.

Woozi nodded. Arin hoped he would stop asking questions about it at that point, but he didn’t. “It sounds a bit like ual harassment, to be honest,” he said. “Like… it sounds like they’re making you do physical things you don’t want to do. I’m just concerned for you. So I want to ask, how did it make you feel to do that?”

“Um…” Arin trailed off. She didn’t know how to tell him that she consented to, even enjoyed, everything that happened, even if it was bred out of coercive and potentially exploitative circumstances. “Don’t worry about it. It was nothing like that.”

He nodded and left it at that, but then asked another question. “The woman who was in the room with us, the one in purple. Who was she?”

“Her name is Yoonsa.”

“I remember when we first met, you saw her outside through the security footage, and you freaked out for some reason.”

“She’s the one who cursed me,” Arin answered.

Woozi narrowed his eyes. “Then why in the world would you work with her?”

It was so complicated and Arin didn’t even know the answer to the question herself. She tried her best though, telling him that Yoonsa was a powerful mage who was apparently the only one who could save the cursed belching man, and that this woman had apologized to her and begged for forgiveness.

“So have you forgiven her?” Woozi asked.

Forgiven Yoonsa? No, never. How could she forgive the woman who made her like that. Who took away her idol, her lover, and her mother? The woman who condemned her to a life of solitude, who made her give up her hopes and dreams. The woman who would soon be the reason she had to lose her voice too. How can anyone like that ever be forgiven?

Arin answered Woozi’s question with her fists clenched. “No. I will never forgive her.”

-

Woozi asked about magic, and Arin told him everything she knew. He was truly fascinated with the subject, with curses and blessings and enchantments and potions.

When she was telling him about potions, she remembered something. “Remember the time when you helped me bandage my fingers? I was having a mental breakdown, and you came and tried to help?”

“Yeah I remember that.”

“You came close, and I was flailing my arms to push you away. My blood got in your mouth…”

“I remember I felt strange after that.”

“The love potion was in my bloodstream, and you got a dosage of it. You felt like you loved me, didn’t you?”

Woozi nodded. “Yeah, I did. That explains so much.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Arin said. She knew how it felt to have your emotions manipulated like that, and it was never fun. “It must have been confusing.”

“It was a bit confusing, yes,” Woozi replied, “but not in a bad way. It was… nice. I hadn’t felt like that for anyone in a very long time. Love can , but it also feels nice.”

Arin nodded her head in agreement. She would know; she felt it now for him. Just being able to speak to him, to have a conversation with him, was like a God-given blessing. Then she remembered that this blessing was temporary, and that she would never be able to speak again very soon. Her face fell. He noticed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s nothing,” Arin replied.

“Was it something I said?”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

“You can talk to me about it, you know. Whatever it is.”

Something about the look in his eyes compelled her to speak up and tell him. “Soon, I’m going to destroy a part of my throat called the larynx.”

“What?”

“I don’t want anyone to die anymore,” Arin explained. “If I’m ever going to be free of this curse, I have to do it.”

Woozi’s eyes widened. He looked horrified by the idea. “Are you scared?”

“Of course I am,” Arin said. “It’s my voice. The thought of losing it forever…” Arin trailed off. An itch in her nose warned her of tears, but she didn’t want to cry in front of him. She didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good conversation and turn it into a pity fest.

“You’re a very good person, Arin,” Woozi said to her, pulling up his falling glasses with his palm. “Not many people would sacrifice a part of themselves like that because they don’t want to hurt people. I wish I were more like you, but I’m the kind of person who would sell my soul to the devil for the right price.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Arin hummed. “You’ve been helping me for free all this time.”

“How do you know I don’t have ulterior motives?” he asked. It was said with the intonation of a joke, but Arin caught on to the restrained playful smile on his face.

“Do you?” she asked, serious.

The question threw him off. For a moment, he looked like he had no answer to that, but he quickly found it. “I guess I do have an ulterior motive.”

Arin narrowed her eyes.

“I like you,” he told her. “Not in a weird I-want-to-get-in-your-pants kind of way, but in an I-want-to-be-your-friend kind of way, if that makes sense.”

Arin might have blushed at the proclamation if she hadn’t thought it unusual. “I wouldn’t call that an ‘ulterior motive’...”

“In that case, I don’t have an ulterior motive.”

Arin nodded her head, but couldn’t help but feel a lingering sort of uncertainty in her heart about this part of their conversation. Her love for him made her push it away and stop thinking about it. All it did was make her feel needlessly anxious.