Cursed | Yang Hongseok

•Epilogue

10 years later, Hongseok's P. O. V.

"Good morning, class." I said, entering the small classroom of the high school where I worked as a history teacher. As someone who lived on this planet for over a thousand years, I knew a thing or two about history, and I wanted nothing more but to share my knowledge with other people.

"Since this semester mainly focues on Greek mythology, today we will be talking about the myth of Sisyphus. Has anyone hear of him before?"

One of the students raised his hand.

"Yes?" I encouraged him to speak up.

"Sisyphus was cursed by the gods for eternity to repeatedly roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down again once he got it to the top, as a methapor for the individual's persistent struggle against the essential absurdity of life." The student said proudly.

"Excelent!" I smiled, taking a marker and driving a huge circle on the white board. "To be honest, this history lesson can easily turn into a life lecture, don't you think?"

I turned back towards the students.

"Do you think our lives are bound by the constand cycles? We're doing the same thing over and over again, not even thinking about escaping. Or we do think about it, but we just don't know how to." I stopped for a moment. "What do you guys think? Is there a way of breaking the circle? Is there really a way of ever getting out?"

Another student raised her hand, so I nodded, letting her state her opinion.

"I personally don't think so." She admitted.

"Interesting." I said, acceting her opinion. "But if that is the case, then why does Sisyphus keep rolling the boulder up that hill, if he knows that it would roll down again, like it always does?"

The students suddenly became quiet, trying to think of their upcoming answer, but when I saw that no one was respoding, I continued talking.

"Maybe, just maybe, he thinks that, when he rolls the boulder for the next time, it would actually stay." I explained. "Despite failing so many times, he still hopes that there's an exit to his suffering. And for me, that is very admirable."

A sight of the car stopping at the school's parking lot that could be seen trough the window suddenly caught my attention. The door opened, letting a beautiful, familiar woman exit. She then opened the back door, letting the young boy exit the car as well.

That woman was Xia, my wife. The girl that I had been chasing for a thousand years before I finally got a chance to hold her in my arms.

And that little boy was our son.

Since this was my last class for today, they stopped by to pick me up.

"You see, guys," I said, turning back towards the white board. With my finger, I erased a few parts of the circle that I previously drew, making it look like a bunch of curvy lines that were no longer connected. "Those circles we're talking about aren't as unbreakable as they seem."

I turned back to the students.

"You can always escape the circle. You can end the monotony and bring those changes that you want to bring to your life."

The student that said she didn't believe circles could be broken raised her hand again. I gave her a signal to speak up.

"But, sir, how are we supposed to do that?"

"That is a great question, I must admit. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer."

I took the marker again, writing one word in the midle of what used to be the circle. Then, I removed the remaining lines, making the circle completely disappear, leaving only one word on the board.

PERSISTENCE

"Sometimes, persistence is all you need." I said, and then I grinned, whispering under my breath.

"And just a bit of magic."

Message from the author

Thank you so much for reading "Cursed"! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This was a completely new experience for me which I'm grateful for, as much as I'm grateful for all of you who read, commented and voted! What do you think of the story now that it's over? Did you have a favorite character? Let me know in the comments!

See you soon!❤
-Yutaeyeol