Chapter 8

The Curse

Seulgi has always been different—felt different.

She’d never considered herself spectacularly beautiful, having grown up alongside classical beauties like Seungwan and Joohyun, but she could not deny the way people seemed drawn to her in spite of any image she had of her own imperfections. Seulgi liked to smile, and she liked making other people smile. She told herself that was enough.

Perhaps no one was more surprised than her when her powers awakened in middle school, but it made a lot of sense—to the young, insecure Seulgi—that her charisma had a supernatural explanation.

Still, she was different.

The fact that she was a succubus was the greatest joke in the history of the universe. Seulgi—who was as plain as anyone else, who faked crushes on the nicest boys to fit in—a succubus! At first, it certainly seemed like a joke. She didn’t understand why people, boys and girls alike, seemed desperate to kiss her. All she knew was how much she hated to disappoint, how ‘no’ was always too shy to leave her lips, and how thankful she was to have Seungwan by her side to bat off her admirers with a firm look and, in desperate times, a strong shove.

But sweet, valiant Seungwan could never fully comprehend how uncomfortable these attentions were at first, could never fully see—short-sighted as she was when Joohyun waltzed in—how these shortcomings made her feel. How could she know that every time she shoved someone away, a part of Seulgi wanted the person to stay, in spite of the discomfort, to maybe someday convince herself she could enjoy it. Everyone else seemed to.

Love, affection, , and romance: these were good things. Everyone desired this. Why were these things so damn uncomfortable?

It wasn’t until Seungwan left, leaving her with a confession and a newfound interest in watching Joohyun’s face whenever they spoke of their friend, that Seulgi began to accept that she would never learn to enjoy the romance and the attention and the burgeoning beginnings, confusing middles, and messy ends of uality. She was different, faulty maybe, but she could not be any other way. And that had to be okay.

She learned to be okay with it. Over the years, she parsed out the pieces in her head. She liked love, and she liked affection; she loved her friends, and she liked it when they showed it. She liked Seungwan’s hugs, and she liked it when Joohyun pat her on the head. She didn’t really like kisses, and anything more is definitely out of the question. She was nonetheless fascinated by the idea of romantic love. She was especially fascinated by the line between romantic and platonic, and the weight hidden behind romance.

While she stumbled through high school, studying Joohyun’s wistful sighs and Seungwan’s ambiguous messages, it became more and more apparent that she would never begin to comprehend the depth of her friends’ feelings for each other. The lines were so blurry, yet so heavy. She didn’t understand it. She didn’t understand why they were hurting each other, even when they were so important to each other. She didn’t understand how to make it better.

But she wanted to make it better.

If only good intentions were enough.

She’d done a pretty ty job overall, she thought sullenly as she trudged up the white rocky trail. It was years of pushing and pulling, pleading and pretending; the same broken record, razors on their nerves, wore them all down to thin smiles whenever the static overwhelmed them. Admittedly, Seungwan and Joohyun were good at pretending—at least, it was enough to fool each other—but Seulgi was tired.

She wanted more than anything for her friends to be happy, but she was so damn tired.

With Byulyi, she didn’t feel so helpless. Not yet.

Her sneakers scuffed the white pebbles, and she watched as they rolled off the side of the pathway and into the shades of green below. The open sky was hot on the back of her neck, but she walked on, lost in thought, until she levelled out onto a white plateau. The greenery condensed into grasses, shrubs, and ferns around a shallow rainwater marsh, and on the far side, where the water deepened just enough, she squinted against the sun to see the silhouette of a lonely figure standing at the edge of the water.

There she was. Just as somber as she saw her last. 

“Seulgi?”

Seulgi waved, then lifted the white plastic bag by her side. As she neared, Byulyi smiled lightly. “I’m getting predictable, aren’t I?” Byulyi said, shoving her hands into her pockets.

Seulgi shrugged. “There are only so many places you can go on this island. I brought lunch.”

They sat on a dry rock by the marsh, overlooking the rolling clouds swimming in the still water.

“Kimbap again?” Byulyi said, rummaging through the plastic bag in her lap.

“Don’t complain,” Seulgi nudged with a pout, “I’m the one who has to chase you across campus because you’re too busy sulking to remember to eat.”

“I’m not sulking,” Byulyi insisted through a mouthful of rice. “I just like the little horses here.”

As if on cue, a small herd of short-legged white ponies approached the marsh and dipped their heads down for a drink. White wings folded neatly against their sides, with the exception of an young colt, who splashed into the shallow waters with a happy whinny, the beginnings of his white wings flapping in excitement.

“See?” Byulyi said, pointing her kimbap at the family of pegasus, “They’re so happy. Makes me happy too.”

“Yongsun-unnie asked me about you today.”

Seulgi didn’t miss the way her friend’s eyes shifted. It was the same look she had seen many, many times on both Seungwan and Joohyun. It’s fear, perhaps, or hope. Maybe even both. Either way, she’d decided long ago that she didn’t envy those tangled in the over complications of romance.

“Yeah?”

Seulgi the plastic wrapper of her lunch. “Yeah. She wanted me to tell you she’s sorry.”

Byulyi scoffed, so quietly that only the slight rise and fall of her shoulders gave her away. “I already knew that.”

“Unnie,” Seulgi said slowly, “I don’t mean to pry, but I think you should talk to her. It’s been a week, and I think even Hyperion is getting worried about you—I saw him spinning around and stamping his hooves when you ignored him again today. Ah, maybe he’s more angry than worried, but still.”

Byulyi kept her eyes on the young colt splashing around while his family watched on.

“I know,” she confessed quietly. “I know it’s kind of stupid and stubborn to run away like this, but I guess I don’t...I don’t know what to say.”

Seulgi, taken aback by the confession, was used to the drawn out babying of her childhood friends, and listened closely now with renewed hope and vigor.

Byulyi went on, more to herself than anyone else. “I left myself open. It was crazy...how much I like her. I’ve been thinking about it all week, and I still can’t believe it happened, but it...It was stupid of me. Anyway, I don’t want to go into it again. It happened, and it hurt. I guess...I just need some time. I need to get over it. Over her.”

Seulgi nodded, and bit her tongue—it wasn’t her place to speak. Right? “Listen—“

But Byulyi continued, ignoring the pleading lilt in Seulgi’s voice. “I’ll be okay, Seul. Things...things will make sense eventually. That’s what I’ve been telling myself ever since I became a werewolf. I guess I just need time to make sense of everything,” she rambled on, “it’s a lot. Even without Yongsun...there’s so much to think about. This crazy island, my crazy classes, everything is so...crazy.”

“You know, unnie, I really love it here. ArchIsland is a very special place,” Seulgi said suddenly. A cool breeze picked up the long strands of her hair, exposing her wistful faraway eyes to Byulyi, who said nothing as she studied her friend’s profile. “It’s like paradise for people like us, y’know? It’s the one place on earth where we don’t have to feel like freaks, and we don’t have to pretend like we are anybody else.”

Byulyi nodded.

“Sometimes I don’t think anybody will ever love me—ah, before you say anything, just hear me out, okay? I think a lot of us felt the same before coming here. Even though I grew up with Wan and Joohyun-unnie, I’ve always felt that maybe...they don’t think anybody will ever love them. Like maybe they don’t deserve to be loved,” Seulgi confessed. “I’ve tried for a long time now to make them see that they really love each other. Like...in a way that I’m...not capable of loving. Kind of makes me the real freak, doesn’t it?”

“Seul—”

“No, it’s okay, unnie. Sorry, I’m kind of rambling, but the point is, I think, that the world is hard enough on us...without beating ourselves up too, you know? We all have our own burdens.” She grinned, a light-hearted grin that didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Does that make sense, unnie?”

“Yeah,” Byulyi mumbled. She sighed, and stretched her arms. “I’ll talk to Yongsun. And you’re not a freak, Seul. Don’t ever think that.”

Just then, the family of pegasus took off into the air and flew high up above them, cutting through the clouds until they disappeared among them.

In the following days, Byulyi gathered up her courage little by little. A practiced smile here, and a few words of encouragement there—she was almost ready to face her without crumbling. A few chance encounters had left her running to the pegasus’ plateau, then dragged back to campus by a sympathetic Seulgi or a thoroughly annoyed Hyejin at the whim of Wheein, but she was getting there. She was almost ready. After all, this just couldn't go on. 

“I told Wheeinie that you’d rather be a moping loser than solve any problems,” Hyejin said once with an over-dramatic flip of her hair, “but she’s worried about you so you better come with me or I’m sleeping alone tonight. And if I’m sleeping without my teddy bear, I’m tearing out your ing liver.”

Though Hyejin rolled her eyes and made her excuses, Byulyi could tell that everyone was worried. So she gave herself a deadline, and vowed to get over it—her—just enough to have the much-needed conversation.

Unfortunately, the opportunity came sooner than she had planned.

Three days before her personal deadline, she was on her way back to the dorm from class when a great gust of wind descended upon her from behind, and knocked her off her feet and onto her face. Colours swam before her eyes, and the thrum of voices around her dulled to a low buzz in the seconds she was on the ground. Then, faster than she could process what was happening, she was roughly pulled up by the collar of her jacket and onto her feet.

“We have to talk.”

Byulyi clapped a hand over her eyes to steady herself, then looked on to see an inscrutable Joohyun staring blankly back.

“Let’s go,” Joohyun said. She spun on her heels, so quickly that her fawn-coloured feathers whipped across Byulyi’s face. Byulyi blinked, rubbing her cheek. Unable to process anything that was happening, she simply did what she was told and staggered after Joohyun.

Byulyi found herself in a small room, tucked away in a seldom-visited part of the library. There were two desks pushed together beside the frosted window. Her mind flickered to the rumours surrounding Joohyun, and what she had seen and heard with her own eyes—how many girls had she taken into this room before? She cringed a little at the thought--she had seen and heard Joohyun in the throes of passion far too many times. She glanced up at Joohyun, who was sitting patiently by a glowing Database, watching her with no small amount of disdain. Byulyi cringed internally—ual escapades aside, this was also the perfect setting for murder.

“How long are you going to stand there?”

Byulyi swallowed, bowed, and fumbled into her seat, then flinched back when she accidentally squeezed her finger between the chair and the wall. She shook her hand and gave Joohyun an apologetic smile, but Joohyun remained inscrutable.

“I'll get straight to the point. There is something about Yongsun I think you should know.”

Byulyi sat up a little straighter.

“I know you probably haven’t done a lot of research. For a wolf without a pack, you certainly seem happy and content to exist in ignorance. But since Yongsun won’t tell you herself, I’ve taken upon myself to do so.” Joohyun laced her fingers together, looking as beautiful and intimidating as ever.

Not trusting herself to speak, Byulyi nodded.

“I’ll start at the beginning to make things...easier...for you to understand—with a story.”

“A story?” Byulyi echoed.

Joohyun narrowed her eyes. “Please don’t speak.”

Byulyi’s ears flattened.

“Once upon a time, back when humans existed in harmony with the supernatural,” Joohyun began, her eyes piercing--almost accusing--as she spoke, “a family’s house burns down, so the family—a vampire, his wife, and his daughter—goes to live in a temple while their house is rebuilt. At the temple, the daughter meets a handsome young acolyte. They fall in love immediately. Little did they know, it was a curse.

Another priest, who recognizes the curse, tells the daughter to break it immediately by sprinkling crushed garlic on her eyelids, but the daughter was too in love with the acolyte. As the days pass, the priest’s warnings become more and more urgent, but the daughter doesn’t listen. She and the acolyte pledge themselves to each other for eternities, even though they both knew their house would be rebuilt and they would have to part. Still, the curse made them believe they were strong enough to overcome anything.

On the day before the vampires had to leave, they promised to meet again soon. Maybe even elope.

But, that night, the priest sneaks into the acolyte’s room and sprinkles crushed garlic on his eyelids while he’s sleeping. He wakes up, and the curse is gone, so he grows up and becomes the priest he is destined to be.

Meanwhile, the daughter never hears from her love again, and starts going a little crazy. Determined to see him again, she burns down her family’s new house. But at the time, arson is a huge crime, and she is arrested. As her punishment, they burn her at stake, and she dies. The end.”

Joohyun concluded her story with a small, self-satisfied smile at the sight of Byulyi’s stunned expression.

“Do you understand now?”

Byulyi shook her head.

Joohyun sighed, and gestured to the crystal ball, where a painted portrait of a family posed stiffly. The three people, a man, his wife, and a young daughter, were pale, with red eyes that seemed to capture Byulyi’s soul. The pieces reluctantly began to fit, but Byulyi simply looked blankly into the crystal ball.

“Are you actually an idiot?” Joohyun mumbled. Byulyi met her eyes once more and saw the frustration on her face. “Look, it’s a very common story in vampire culture, and there has been millions of retellings across the globe, but the ending is always the same.”

Byulyi nodded slowly.

“The point is,” Joohyun said, “it’s not just a story. It’s a real. It happened. It’s been happening, and it's still happening over and over again. The curse is real, and you need to break it.”

Joohyun pinned her down with a pointed look, allowing silence to settle for a moment. She crossed her arms and swung a leg over the other, waiting. Finally, as steadily as possible, Byulyi cautiously articulated her reply: “You want me to crush garlic into my eyes?”

“Eyelids,” Joohyun said with a roll of her eyes. “There’s a big difference.”

“R-right. But do you...really think the curse killed the daughter?”

Joohyun’s smile was less than friendly. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“W-well I just mean…maybe it’s not…the curse?” Byulyi continued quickly. “I-if the acolyte hadn’t broken the curse, then maybe the could be happy? I-I mean m-maybe the moral of the story isn’t that love is a curse, but that…people should be free? To love each other, I mean. I don’t know.”

Joohyun shook her head, her lips pressed together as if she knew something Byulyi didn’t. “Don’t be naïve,” she whispered.

“What?”

“You’re misconstruing this curse with love,” Joohyun said, resting her chin on her hand. With a sigh she added, “Though one could argue that love itself is the cruelest curse of all. There is little difference between the two, isn’t there? I’m sure even you have heard enough stories to agree.”

Byulyi, chewed on her bottom lip. “How can you say that?” she blurted. “Aren’t you in love?”

The glare she received sent cold, hard shivers down her spine. “Don’t pretend you know anything about me,” Joohyun said simply. Byulyi didn’t miss the white knuckles poking out from underneath her lilac sweater, and despite all the questions she had, she was not about to risk her life to ask them.

“Since you seem to be an idiot, I’ll try to be even clearer,” Joohyun continued calmly, “I love Yongsun. She is my best friend, and I won’t let your delusions condemn her with the curse. So, if you’ll forgive me for my honesty, I honestly don’t give a about you and what you think, and you will break the curse.”

Something prickled in Byulyi’s chest—a sharp and familiar pang. Jealousy? Maybe at first, but there was something else boiling beneath: anger. Her thoughts raced, two questions coming to surface amidst the chaos of others: why were they even here? And what gave her the right? For that moment, as anger stamped away the fear, Joohyun was just a girl—a bully like so many Byulyi has encountered in her previous life.

Her heart raced. She closed her eyes to calm her thoughts, then took a deep breath. “Does she know?” She asked.

“Of course,” Joohyun replied with a wave of her hand. “She is well-versed in the history of her lineage, obviously.”

Byulyi crossed her arms. “Not about the curse. Does she know you’re here? That you’re doing this?”

Joohyun narrowed her eyes, and said nothing.

“It’s true that I don’t understand why any of this is happening,” Byulyi said, uncrossing her arms and dropping her hands into her lap, “but if it really is a curse, then I’d rather hear it from Yongsunssi herself.”

Joohyun scoffed. “You really are an idiot. At least you’re optimistic...for what it’s worth. What makes you think she wouldn’t tell you to do the same?” Though her features remained impassive, there was a softness to her question that betrayed her genuine curiosity. Surely, Byulyi thought, she wasn’t as cynical as she wanted to appear.

“Nothing. I mean, maybe she will. I can’t know for sure, but I guess… At least I can say I tried, and I heard it from her own lips.”

Joohyun smiled a little without an ounce of humour. “You don’t believe anything I just told you, do you? You think you’re right. That you have all the answers. You think you know.”

Byulyi shrugged. “I don’t know what’s real anymore these days. But my feelings...I”—she looked down at her hands in search for the right words—“curse or no curse, I can’t deny that my feelings are very strong. And I can’t deny what I want, but I also… Whatever happens, I’m ready. I just need to hear it from her. I...I know you already don’t like me very much, unnie, but I can’t respect your wish. This attraction might be a curse, but I don’t think love itself is a curse. And I think, no matter what you’ve been telling yourself, you agree with me. Seungwan would agree too.”

Joohyun shot up, her great wings splaying open at the name, like a cornered bird in the face of a bigger predator. “Don’t drag Seungwan into this,” she growled. “Especially when you know nothing about love.”

Byulyi stood too, her tail puffing out with a burst of adrenaline-fuelled courage, knocking over her chair in the process. “You can lie to anyone you want—to me, to yourself. You can even lie on behalf of someone else, but don’t tell me what I know and don’t know!”

Joohyun folded her wings again, and shook her head. “The curse makes you so annoyingly arrogant,” she muttered. “It’s an inorganic, magical-based attraction. Goddammit, if you bothered to do your research—“

“I love her.”

Byulyi and Joohyun stared at each other in wide-eyed shock. The confession had caught them both off-guard. They processed the three words in silence, it’s magnitude sending an unsettling rumble in the pit of Joohyun’s stomach. But for Byulyi, it was nothing but a wave of relief when the words rushed out from between her lips.

“I don’t care,” Byulyi said with a quiet smile. “I love her.”

It was cathartic. She could say it a million times in spite of Joohyun’s darkening expression.

“You don’t even know her,” Joohyun grinded out. “You don’t know anything about her. What the hell makes your blind and stubborn brain think any of this will go well? This curse—”

“I don’t care,” Byulyi repeated, her smile growing wider at the realization. “I don’t. Curse or no curse, this feeling is...it’s real right now. I...It’s real to me. And I think...it’s real to her too. I don’t know.” She chewed her lip for a moment, then glanced up at Joohyun with a renewed sense of purpose. “If she tells me to break the curse, I’ll do it, but for now, I won’t deny my own feelings.”

Joohyun said nothing, did nothing, for a long time. She ran a hand across her face. Her dark eyes roamed Byulyi’s face, studying her features as if it were a map. If she were shocked, angry, confused, or even pleased with Byulyi’s passionate declaration, she did not show it. Instead, she simply pressed her lips together, her heel, and marched out of the room.

Meanwhile, Seulgi, Seungwan, Wheein, and Hyejin were sitting in a campus cafe, sipping coffees and sharing slices of cake.

For these four, it had almost become routine to meet up twice a week to study. They often found themselves at the cafe when somebody—usually Hyejin—is overloaded with enough frustration and hunger to declare a formal break.

On this cloudy afternoon, Wheein was feeding Hyejin a slice of chocolate mousse. Hyejin had shaken her head, but a glance at Wheein’s puffed up cheeks, and she relented, taking a small bite. Pleased, Wheein polished off the remainder of the cake on her fork. Hyejin laughed, then kissed her on the cheek, bringing a wide grin to Wheein’s face.

“It’s like they’re having their own conversation telepathically,” Seulgi observed with a tilt of her head.

“It’s impressive,” Seungwan agreed with a chuckle, “and a bit hard to watch.”

Hyejin stuck a tongue out at Seungwan, and brought her coffee cup to her lips, a not-so-secret smile hiding behind the rim.

Suddenly, bang!

A thump rattled the window beside Wheein, who yelped, dropped her fork, and threw herself across Hyejin’s lap, throwing her girlfriend’s hot coffee all over the floor. Hyejin swore, but instinctively wrapped her arms around Wheein, and turned to look at Seulgi, who also sat halfway sprawled across Seungwan’s lap.

“Holy ,” Hyejin mumbled.

“What was that?” Wheein asked, peeking out from the crook of Hyejin’s neck. Almost subconsciously, Hyejin lowered her chin, and planted a kiss on Wheein’s forehead, as if to assure her that danger had passed.

Seungwan, the only one unfazed by the whole ordeal, stood up to investigate the window. Something red caught her eye.

“Yongsun-unnie?” She wondered out loud.

The other three crowded around her by the window, and, right on cue, the face-down bat stirred. One little claw stretched forward, then, in a puff of smoke, Yongsun appeared, holding her head and the window for support.

“Aish, what is that idiot doing?”

“Hyejin! Respect your seniors!”

A few disorienting minutes later, Yongsun found her way through the door. Her friends gestured her over and peppered her with questions, but she stayed by the threshold, face as red as her hair. Onlookers watched with interest.

“Where’s Joohyun?” She asked. Her voice, strained with suppressed emotion, was barely audible above the din of the cafe.

Seungwan stood, concern etched clearly on her face. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Where’s Joohyun?” Yongsun repeated.

“I-I don’t know,” Seungwan said, cautiously approaching. Tentatively, she touched Yongsun’s elbow. “Is...Joohyun alright?”

Yongsun ignored her, her eyes as sharp and red as a glowing ember as she scanned the room. Curious onlookers unlucky enough to meet her burning eyes cowered, and shirked away. It was as if her very presence the air out of the room.

Then, without another word, she stomped out of the cafe.

Notes: Thank you all for your patience. My vacation was wonderful, and I'm really happy people are enjoying AIU. 

The curse story is adapted from a Japanese folk tale. You can read about it here: https://www.worldoftales.com/Asian_folktales/Japanese_folktale_67.html