Before Her Very Eyes

Chapter 38

After the meeting with the blind woman, Hoshi peered at Arin with the side of his eye, as if trying to glean her reaction.

"You're free to type down what you're thinking," Hoshi said, sliding his keyboard over to where she was sitting.

Her fingers hovered over the keys for a minute. There was a jumble of confused thoughts in her brain and she couldn't think of a coherent way to phrase them. After a lot of typing and erasing, she finally managed a question: "Do you think that I should get rid of my voice permanently?"

Hoshi didn't seem surprised or mortified when he read it. On the contrary, he looked relieved to know that she caught on to what he wanted.

"Honestly, Arin, I think that might be only way you can get rid of its effects for good," Hoshi said. "Your curse has irreversibility in the words, which means we can't use magic to undo it like we can with Sangbin or Larali."

Arin nodded slowly, understanding. "Would I have to drink some potion?" she typed.

"Actually, there's no need to waste magic on this," Hoshi replied. "This can be done medically. There's this like thing in our throats called the larynx. If that's damaged, then you won't be able to talk again..."

Hoshi had clearly done his research. He must have thought about this before, but only suggested it to her now.

The prospect suddenly felt too real, too scary. That anxiety she thought she had overcome that day began to surface. Even if she loved the idea of the curse having no bearing on her anymore, she was terrified of medically maiming herself.

"Don't stress about it yet," Hoshi told her when he saw her begin to pick the skin around her nails. "There's still hope. I'm still lookinh for a loophole or some way around it, so maybe things will work out without any of the damage. I just wanted you to keep the idea in mind, for now..."

-

Arin sang Chilli songs all the way back to Woozi's apartment, in which she had decided to stay until she could find her own place.

People stared at her, thought she was drunk or crazy, but she didn't care. She wanted to enjoy her voice while she still had it.

As she sang, she remembered her past, when she used to take singing lessons and train to be an idol. It seemed like a lifetime ago when that was possible for her; now it was just a far-off dream, drifting further and further away as her life progressed. If she were ever to lose her voice for good, that dream would be far out of reach.

She continued to sing as she exited the bus and walked over to the building. She continued to sing as she climbed up the stairs to the door. She continued to sing as she put in the combination and entered the apartment. She continued to sing as she took off her shoes and entered.

She stopped singing when she saw Meemo standing there.

Meemo purred as she nestled into Arin's legs. Arin stood still as she looked down on her cat, dumbfounded but elated.

"Meemo!" she exclaimed, picking up her unwilling cat and hugging her. "What are you doing here? Did Woozi bring you?"

Arin noted the extra pair of shoes at the doorway. She also heard fast typing from inside the office. The door was closed.

She wondered if he heard her come in. He most certainly had seen her duffle bag of belongings which she left in the middle of the dining table, so he must now know that she had decided to go there after all.

Groans of frustration, along with faster and louder typing came from the other room. Whatever Woozi was doing in there, it was clearly stressing him out.