Before Her Very Eyes

Chapter 34

"Goodie! Jun it is!" Dasinai said, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "Hoshi, prep her up! I'll get Yoonsa."

"Great!" Hoshi said. "Larali, Jun, and Arin, get inside."

"On it!" Larali replied to Hoshi, as if she had done this a thousand times before. She went into the glass structure.

Arin had been feeling an uncomfortable knot in her stomach about what happened with Jun, but when Larali came closer, it all went away.

"Come on," Jun said to Arin, walking into the structure as well.

Walking into the structure, she remembered the building where she had spent the last three years. It was the same feeling of constriction that the enchantment had left her in, as if it was there was an invisible force pressing down on her at all angles.

Larali took a seat on the chair and was scrolling through her phone casually. Jun, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable.

"Jun, what's wrong," Larali asked him, looking up from her phone. "There's a lot of negative energy I'm getting from you."

"Sorry," Jun said, offering her a small smile.

"These sessions aren't that bad, don't worry about it," she told him. "There won't be any hurling this time, so it will be a lot less painful for me!"

Jun nodded, then turned to Arin and explained. "Usually, Sangbin is here with Larali. He's cursed to throw up everything he eats, so she's been in here absorbing that pain."

"Yep!" Larali added. "But this time, it's love, so I don't think it will hurt that much. Plus, no smells and nasty sights! Unless..." she raised an eyebrow at Jun and Arin, then looked at the bed.

Jun turned bright red. "Gosh Larali, why are you saying these things!" It was only then that Arin understood what Larali was implying and covered her face with her hands.

Larali shrugged. "I don't mind. I mean... they put a bed here for a reason."

Hoshi seemed to have overheard that conversation, because he burst into laughter from the outside.

"Oh shut it, Soonyoung!" Jun yelled.

Hoshi appeared at the doorway. "Arin's going to fall in love with you, Jun, and when you love someone, you love them with every part of you, including your body. So Arin will want you. Just be aware of that."

"Nope. That is not happening," Jun said. He turned to Arin, as if addressing her. "It's not happening, okay?"

Arin should have felt embarrassed, but with Larali right there, it wasn't an uncomfortable kind of embarrassment. Larali was still draining all the bad feelings from her like a sinkhole.

"What if it boosts the magic?" Hoshi suggested, raising an eyebrow, as if mocking Jun.

"Would it?" Jun asked, horrified.

"We don't know; it might," Hoshi said. "Like Larali said: the bed is there for a reason."

"Not happening!" Jun repeated.

"None of you have to do anything you don't wanna do," Hoshi said with a mischievous grin. "Just letting you know your options!"

"You know what, Arin, I need you to be aware of this before you take the potion," Jun began. "I have feelings for someone else. I don't know what these sessions will do and the effects they will have on you, but I just need you to be aware of that. This will all be purely professional. And if I do anything to lead you on or whatever, I'm doing it for the magic. Alright?"

Arin just nodded. She was aware of that now, but wondered how it would feel later when the magic took effect.

Dasinai soon came back in with the witch, Yoonsa, trailing behind her carefully.

"We got our mage," Dasinai announced. "Are we ready?"

"Not yet," Hoshi replied from the doorway. Hoshi turned to Arin and asked. "I need to ask you something before we do this. I'm going to administer a love potion now. The way that it works is it puts someone's face in your heart. But, if there's a face that already occupies that heart, it won't work. So... are you in love with anybody? Romantically, I mean."

Arin shook her head. She didn't love anyone; how could she?

"Great, then it will work."

From his lab coat, Hoshi took out a little bottle of what seemed to be white powder. He also took out a toothpick. Carefully, he loosened the lid of the vial and placed the tip of a toothpick inside. He pulled it out.

He explained: "remember when I told you how a tiniest bit of potion is all you need for it to take effect? Well, tiny particles of love potion are now on this little toothpick. It's actually a powder, but same difference, right? Anyways, here's what I want you to do as soon as we close that door. You look at Jun and then put the toothpick in your mouth while staring straight at him. The magic will do its magic and put him in your heart."

Arin took the toothpick from him and nodded in understanding.

"Also, just a fair warning. You know how loving someone is something that courses through your whole body? Through your eyes, because when you see them, they're the most beautiful person; through your body, because you want to be closer to them; through your mind, because even logic is thrown out the window for them; and of course, through your heart, because you would give up your life for them..."

Arin nodded, starting to feel a little afraid of this experiment all of the sudden.

"Well... when it's taking effect, it will shake up your whole body, because it will affect your whole body. So just be aware of that, okay?"

Arin nodded passively, and Hoshi left the structure.

Dasinai stuck her head in. "Alright, Yoonsa will step in now. She's not going to do anything. She'll just be standing here collecting the magic from your curse and Larali's."

Arin couldn't even think about the witch now. She didn't even flinch when Yoonsa came inside, and the door was closed, leaving only Larali, Jun, her, and that witch alone in that glass structure together.

It was time.

Jun stood there awkwardly as she looked at him and prepared to put the toothpick in her mouth as instructed.

She didn't understand why she was doing this, why she was trusting these people to put chemicals in her body, to manipulate her emotions, and lock her in a room with her worst enemy. She didn't even feel anxious about it, but perhaps she should have been. They were manipulating her emotions with Larali too, not just the potion.

But she pushed those doubts to the side. She looked at Jun, and willingly put the toothpick in her mouth.

Seconds later, her whole body trembled uncontrollably, so much so she almost tripped. She felt this chill run down every limb and every muscle. When it subsided and she regained her balance, she felt very different.

"Are you okay?" asked Jun, who was peering at her with friendly concern.

When she turned to look at him, she found him the most beautiful person in the world.