Before Her Very Eyes

Chapter 44

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 fucking 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.