Cursed | Yang Hongseok

•16

Present time: Back to Xia's P.O.V.

Just like that, the wall in my mind was finally broken, letting all the memories from my past lives in. Of course, one thousand years worth of memories weren't that easy to take in all at once, so everything was still pretty confusing, and needless to say, scary.

"I understand... But at the same time, I don't." I looked at Hongseok, feeling like my heart was going to jump out ot my chest. It seemed like, after all, him and I weren't really strangers. That would also explain why everything about him seemed so familiar to me from the very start.

"It's okay." He said, gently putting his hand over mine to comfort me, but still being at a reasonable distance. "It's always like this. That's just the curse your husband had put us under – My fellow soldiers and friends, who you've met earlier and I are doomed to be immortal, while you burn to ashes everytime you and I kiss. That's why I backed away that day at my house, not because I didn't like you, I obviously love you, but because I just couldn't bear to watch you burn to death once again. However, the moment you die, you are born somewhere else, starting this cruel game all over again. As much as I tried to avoid you for your own good, you and I always tend to find each other."

He looked down at the streets that seemed so far away, looking from this roof.

"I guess you can't escape destiny, huh?" He said ironically.

"But... how were you even able to recognize me? I mean, did I look the same?" I asked him.

"Yes, you always look exactly the same." He explained. "And, strangely enough, despite your last name that might change, your name is always Xia."

I didn't say anything for a few seconds, just staring at the long distance between my feet and the ground.

"You said that your friends and you were doomed to be immortal... That must be terrible." I said quietly.

"It truly is." He agreed. "Unlike you, my memories don't get erased after the kiss, so I've seen you die dozens of times, I even lost count... I assume it was a way for your husband to get revenge on me after what I had done. After all, he did say he'd make me and people around me suffer."

Then, without any warning, he lifted his shirt ever so slightly, revealing a part of his stomach that would've looked perfectly fine if it wasn't for the numerous scars that were covering his honey-like skin.

"I tried to end all of this many times, you know? I'm not particularly proud of my cowardice, but at that times I just felt desperate. Of course, some of these were actually given to me by other people, but let's just say that I had more luck, or in my case, no luck at all. As you can see, most of my wounds either healed completely or just left a scar here and there. However, they never killed me."

He took a deep breath, looking straight into my eyes.

"That's our curse, Xia. Running in circles. We are like two magnets on a string – once upon a time nothing could break us apart, but now, it seems like everytime we go near each other, an invisible force decides to separates us once again. Even now, I'm doing everything I can to stop myself from kissing you, because I know that would just leave me at the very beggining."

I understood what Hongseok meant, because, after all, I desperately wanted to kiss him too, but after what he just told me, I was too scared to even try.

"... How did my husband even perform this curse on us? As far as I can remember, he never used any kind if magic, let alone black magic. I don't think he even knew about it." I wanted to know.

"That's what I was thinking about for the longest time before I came to a conclusion – he probably asked for someone's help." Hongseok responded.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, back then, women who were capable of doing magic were considered to be witches. Nowadays, however, women like that learned to blend in with the rest of the world, if there even are some left. After the massive which hunts during the middle ages, their numbers have significantly decreased. So far, I haven't stumbled upon one." He explained.

"So, you're saying there is a way of breaking this curse?" I said, trying not to get my hopes too high up, although I could literally feel my face brighten up after he mentioned that.

"We don't know that for sure." Hongseok said, a sad expression appearing on his face after he saw a spark of hope in my eyes. "But this is the only lead that we have right now. The only lead we ever had. That's why I came up with the whole 'I want you to write my biography' thing. I've been watching you for months now, Xia, and I'm sorry if that sounds creepy, but I had to do that in order to know you a bit more, so I could gain your trust and curiosity."

"But, why would you have to come up with such a complex plan? If the curse works every time, that means the two of us would eventually meet anyway." I said, confused by his words.

"That's right, we would meet sooner or later. But the circumstances of our encounter wouldn't be the best, since we'd probably end up kissing before I even get a chance to explain everything to you." He said. "And I needed to explain everything to you as soon as possible."

"Why?" I asked, and suddenly, his serious facial expression because even more serious.

"Because Hoetaek and the others have been doing some research lately..." He paused for a second.

"... And we think we finally found a clue that might lead us to some witches.