Before Her Very Eyes

SPECIAL CHAPTER

A/N: Hello lovely readers! As promised to some of the commenters, I'm back with a special chapter!

This took me so long t because I honestly had a lot of trouble with it I wrote about eight different versions that I'm not happy with or ended up being dragged out for too long until I finally managed to write something I'm okay with. Sorry if it's not what you expected, and if you don't like it, you can just pretend this chapter doesn't exist haha

Enjoy~

-

I am a man of science.

I believe in the numbers, rules, regulations that explain the systems that operate our world. But there are some things that science cannot explain. Like curses, or magic, or even my love for Arin.

She isn't my soulmate, so I should have been able to rationalize that love away. If I am ultimately not her destined romantic partner, I should just give up, right?

But whenever I see her, my heart skips a beat. When she's with her now-boyfriend Jeonghan, I feel this searing bitter jealousy coursing through my bones. I want her.

They're in love and it's obvious. I can tell from the way he peers at her when she's not looking, with this unbreakable fiery desire in his eyes. She, too, always has love in her eyes for him, even when he insults her and pushes her around.

It took me a while to get used to him treating her like that. I understand it's a curse and he can't help it, but I think Arin deserves better.

She lives with Jeonghan now, just three floors above me. Sometimes I have to fight the urge to hack into the cameras Jeonghan has installed in his home; I just want to make sure she isn't enduring any kind of violence because of him. My conscience never lets me do it.

-

One day, just a few months after they got together, she comes to my door with Meemo in her arms, holding back tears. I see red marks around her wrists, and immediately understand what is happening.

"Did he do this?" I ask, pointing at the redness.

Arin only nods. "He's in the devil state now."

I invite her inside to stay the night until Jeonghan cools down. The whole night, she looks traumatized, afraid, and I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around her and tell her I would protect her, that I wouldn't let that asshole harm her anymore.

That's the thing though: is he an asshole? It's hard to tell when there's weird magic and possession shit going on.

"I'm sorry for intruding like this," she tells me.

"Any time, Arin. Really, any time. I like spending time with you. You know that." Meaning: she knows I'm in love with her.

She gives a weak smile. A tired smile.

"Do you like spending time with him?" I ask.

"I do."

"Don't you get tired of dealing with his shit though?"

"He's a good person," Arin replies. "It's just his curse that makes him like this."

Somehow, even though the circumstances are a little different from your average abusive relationship, it feels like she is blindly defending her abuser. I wonder if I should interfere. Arin deserves better, and I wish she would see that.

"Everyone is shit, Arin," I tell her. I hate to poison her with my pessimism, but I'm bitter. "You'll see. His curse now gives him the right to be an asshole, but what about when his curse is gone? Now whenever he hurts you, you can brush it off as a product of the curse, but without the curse, there will be no more excuses. You'll see the true flaws in his character."