Before Her Very Eyes

Chapter 54

The next time she saw Jun at MRS, he looked angry. With clenched fists and a frown on his face, he confronted Arin.

"I need you to do these sessions without Larali," he said. "She can't take it anymore."

Arin did not want to cause Larali any more pain. Like Jun, she didn't want the girl to take part in the extraction. It was hardly her choice though, and Jun knew that.

"Hoshi and Dasinai are not letting me into the Extraction Room anymore," Jun muttered. "They think I'll ruin the extraction again like the first time. They know I can't stand to see Larali hurting, so they're locking me out. That's why I need your help, Arin. I need you to stop them. Tell them you won't do it with Larali in the room."

Arin nodded her head, indicating that she was ready to try that. She then took out her phone and texted him a question that had been on her mind since the day he barged into the Extraction Room when Larali was suffering.

She's your soulmate, right?

When Jun read the message, he sighed and his face flushed with guilt. "I don't like saying that. She's a child. It feels weird and creepy to say that a child is my soulmate. But I love her like a sister. I would die to protect her. You're right, though. We are connected with the thread."

Arin nodded. It all made sense to her now. Larali was how Jun found MRS; he followed the thread to her.

"Larali doesn't know that I'm her soulmate, so please don't ever tell her, okay?"

Arin nodded.

-

At the Extraction Room, Arin prepared a note for Hoshi on her phone explaining that she didn't want Larali to be part of the extraction sessions anymore, but before she could show him, he began saying something else.

"Arin, about your friend, Woozi, I would really like to run some tests with him. Obviously, he doesn't meet some condition in your curse, and I want to know what it is. Maybe it'll help us find a loophole that doesn't involve permanently erasing your voice."

Arin nodded her head, hopeful at the idea that there was something to be discovered, something that would save her from having to make the decision to irreversibly mutilate her body.

"Great, just send me his contact information and I'll arrange for some time to look into the case," Hoshi said. "Also..." he added, watching her carefully. "We've installed curtains in the Extraction Room so that no one from outside can look inside. We can keep Larali out for today, and Yoonsa can go in later to collect the magic. It will just be you and Jeonghan, full privacy. Would you like that?"

Arin cheeks bit her lower lips and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She understood the implication well enough; Hoshi wanted her to be even more intimate.

"Yesterday, it worked, Arin," Hoshi explained. "There was so much magic, and we would really like more. And I know not having Larali in the room will make it harder, so if you want, we can have her under the bed..."

Arin shook her head. No Larali.

"Okay then," Hoshi agreed. "Larali will not participate. But without Larali, you know we'll have to keep Jeonghan chained, right?"

-

Jeonghan was chained to the bed this time. He was laid down on his back with his hands handcuffed to the headboard and his feet to the footboard. He was struggling and yelling curses at everyone.

Arin stood over the bed, feeling tension in her chest as she watched him. This felt so wrong.

Hoshi handed her the toothpick with the potion on it, then drew the curtain and left the room. The curtains surrounded the entire room, so no one from outside could see the inside. It was just her and a chained-up Jeonghan.