“So, Arin…” was the first thing that Jun said when she picked up the phone. “How do you feel?”

“Different,” was Arin’s answer. Jun immediately understood what she meant; after all, he was feeling exactly the same way.

“Are you absolutely sure you have feelings for Woozi?”

“I… I don’t know,” Arin answered as she looked at Woozi, who was watching her talk on the phone.

“Then let’s find out. I’m close to the car now. Ask Woozi to put on the cuffs and the gag, and we’ll try the potion again.”

After she was cuffed and gagged, Jun entered the car cautiously.

Jun did not look as beautiful to her eyes as he did before. When she thought back to her past week with him, all of the lovey-dovey words and intense make-out sessions, it all felt like part of a strange dream.

Still, even if there were no intense feelings of infatuation anymore, she cared about him. still ached to say his name.

Jun and Arin couldn’t even look one another in the eye. It was extremely awkward to fall out of love so quickly, although the memory of being in love was still there, fresh in their hearts.

“I have the potion,” Jun said, taking out a small vial from his pocket. “I’ll… ummm… I’ll try to put it in your mouth?”

Arin didn’t know what she wished would happen anymore. Did she want to be in love with him or not? She still wanted to be useful during extraction sessions, but she also didn’t want her heart to be trapped anymore.

Arin locked her eyes with his and faced him properly. He took a toothpick from the vial and put it in from under the gag so it touched her tongue. He pulled it out when her body showed the signs of reacting and nervously waited for it to take effect.

When Arin got over the tremor and faced Jun, she felt exactly the same; there was no “love” in the romantic sense of the term like there should have been.

“Well?” Jun asked.

Arin just shook her head, and Jun understood immediately.

Arin was still herself trying to process what it meant that the potion wasn’t working anymore. Was her heart already occupied by Woozi? She definitely felt fondness for Woozi, but did she love him in the deep, intense way that the potion spurred?

It was definitely a different feeling from the potion’s love. The potion’s love was fondness, infatuation, care and intense attraction. But with Woozi, it was mostly an earnest fondness that had the potential to grow. It occupied the part of her heart that could turn into love, but it was enough to render the potion idle.

Jun sighed heavily. “Well… that’s a problem. I’m worried about what this means for Larali, but I guess it can’t be helped.”

Watching from the front seat was Woozi, who definitely did not understand what was happening. “What’s wrong?” Woozi asked, facing Jun.

Jun looked between Woozi and Arin, then turned to Arin again with an earnest look in his eyes. “Are you sure it’s him though”

Who else could it have been? There was no one else that it could have been. No one else could have blocked out the effects of the potion. He was her soulmate after all.

Jun did not wait for Arin to answer. Just watching the way Arin looked at Woozi was enough for him. “I guess I’ll be on my way now,” Jun said. “I believe you two have some things to sort out.”

“What is going on?” Woozi asked, clueless.

“Just ask her when I’m gone. She’ll tell you.” Jun turned to Arin. “Well, Arin, it was fun while it lasted.” He leaned forward, and quickly kissed her cheek, then turned for the door. “Bye!”

Arin watched him through the window as he left the car and walked around the corner, out of sight. Meanwhile, Woozi got into the backseat with Arin, where he began to unlock the handcuffs and take off the gag.

It was then that she faced him. She had to examine her own feelings for him before she could know what to tell him. He was looking at her with curiosity, waiting for her to answer the lingering questions she knew he had.

“The potion didn’t work,” Arin said to him.

“Why not?”

“I… I don’t know exactly, but it has something to do with you.”

Woozi tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“A love potion doesn’t work when you have feelings for someone else,” Arin answered.

She knew he would understand what she was implying. She watched as his expression changed. Lines formed between his eyebrows, like he was surprised and confused. “So… are you saying that you have feelings for… for me?”

Arin nodded, but Woozi did not look convinced.

“Then that thing with Jun...”

“It’s over. It was all the potion, and when the potion faded, my real feelings came to the surface.”

“Okay.” He still did not look convinced. “What about Jeonghan?” Woozi asked. “The spark between you is not just a potion and you know it.”

Arin opened to reply, but then closed it and shook her head. She didn’t know what to say in response to that, because it was true. Jeonghan occupied some space in her heart that she couldn’t explain, and it was not the potion who made her feel that way. She cared about Jeonghan, and she was attracted to him, with or without the potion.

However, it was different with Woozi. She loved being with Woozi, but being with Jeonghan was mentally taxing and gave her this unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was only recently that she stopped hating him, and the symptoms of that hatred still showed up no matter how much she came to care about him, and no matter how much she told herself that he could not help the way he was.

With Woozi, she just felt like she always wanted to be with him. With Jeonghan, she hated herself, but with Woozi, who saw her so beautifully, she felt more confident in herself than ever before. She felt happy with him in ways she never thought possible since she was cursed.

“With Jeonghan, it’s not the same,” Arin said with a shrug. “With you… I…” Arin hesitated and swallowed her words. She didn’t want to say them. They felt too dangerous to say out loud.

She glanced at her bracelet. Still white.

“I think… maybe… maybe I love you,” she said, resigning herself to the feeling.

Woozi’s showed no clear reaction. His face didn’t change, but he held her gaze for a few seconds.

“I’m sorry,” Arin said, looking away, embarrassed. “Not the time or place. You’re looking for a murderer, and here I am confessing...”

Woozi silenced her when he put his lips over hers and kissed her softly as his hand caressed her cheek. He pulled his head back shortly, but kept his hand on her cheek, moving his thumb up and down her skin.

“I love you too,” Woozi said softly. She held his gaze for a moment, and he leaned his forehead against hers. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he said.

His breath sent shivers across her skin, and his touch made her crave more of him. He was holding back though, and she could tell. He would not kiss her again, even though he was looking at her lips like he wanted to. She wanted him to, but he stayed in place, like he wasn’t sure if he should.

She could hear his breath get louder, like his breath couldn’t catch up with his thoughts and sensations. She could feel him start to pull back, but she didn’t want that.

She put her hands behind his neck and pulled him toward her, closing the distance between their lips herself.

Even though there was no magic, it was still the most magical thing she had ever experienced.