Work Text:
Binghe, would you mind coming here for a moment?
I want to share something with you.
Binghe, I want to share a story, it’s one that I heard a long time ago, it’s about a man, a man who was cursed.
But, the curse wasn’t normal, it wasn’t known to others or written in books, it wasn’t the kind that came from demons or wronged lovers, it was a much more debilitating and exclusive curse than that.
It was a very horrifying curse, in that it had complete control over certain actions in the man’s life.
The curse could dictate how he would have to act in certain situations, how he would have to treat others, even how he would have to talk to them. If he failed in following the curse’s instructions, some of his lifespan was chipped away.
The curse could affect not only him, but the situations around him, inviting monsters into his vicinity, inviting dangerous circumstances onto his loved ones, and he wouldn’t be able to stop it, because the curse wanted it to happen.
“That sounds like a terrifying curse Shizun”
Yes, it does, doesn’t it?
But do you know what the worse part about the man’s curse was Binghe? It was that the man had no way of communicating to anyone that he was cursed. He had no way of telling his loved ones that his actions or words weren’t his, but because of his curse.
And the worst part for the man, was when he was told that he would have to personally hurt someone who was most dear to him.
“Hurt his most dear Shizun? You mean he would have to attack them?”
Worse Binghe, he would have to verbally abuse him, put him down to his lowest mentally, before forcibly sending his loved one away, to a horrifying hell, and not have any chance to stop it.
“His curse made him do this?”
It sounds strange doesn’t it Binghe, how could a curse have such an affect one someone?
How could a curse dictate a person’s actions, control their movements?
The man had no idea how himself; he didn’t know why he woke one day to find this curse with him, he never read of anything like this before, he’d never heard of anything remotely similar either.
When the man had first been cursed, all his actions were governed by it, he could talk or even eat unless it was what the curse allowed. It wasn’t until the man had completed an action, had protected his loved one from a demon, that he was able to make decisions for himself.
He was finally able to say what he wanted, act how he wanted, where before he was made to act horribly towards his loved one, now he was free to remove the pain that had been caused, even if he didn’t know how to solve all the problems his loved one faced, he could at least comfort him.
“Shizun, what happened to the cursed man’s loved one, when it came time for him to… hurt him”
The man knew that his actions would hurt his loved one, but he also knew, through the curse that his loved one would come back alive, and stronger than before. It was the only reason the cursed man didn’t just accept death and refuse to hurt his loved one, he could accept death if his loved one would die, but if his loved one would come back, well, he was too much of a coward to accept death in place of his loved one’s suffering.
“But isn’t that better for the loved one, if I had to see someone I cared about die in front of me it would surely hurt more than any betrayal, especially if I had no chance of saving them!”
Perhaps Binghe is right, and the death would be more traumatising, but the loved one would have no idea either way, the curse forbids the man to speak of it. And for the cursed man, it would be better to betray his loved one, for the reassurance that they would ben reunited again.
“He’s certain that they’d see each other again. How can a curse give knowledge like that?”
I am unsure Binghe, even the cursed man was unsure. He’d never met a single person cursed like himself, nor heard a curse like this before, all he knew was that if the punishments of the curse were real, then the promises had to be true.
It was for his sanity that he believed, how could he betray his loved one, if he didn’t believe in the curse’s cruelty that he would come back.
“This is a very strange story Shizun, how did it end?”
Pardon?
“You said you heard it some time ago, did it have an end?”
I don’t know, the only ending I know of was said to have been described by the curse, a future that awaited the man once his loved one came back.
“What happened?”
The man’s loved one, hurt by the actions of the cursed man, tortured him, taking out his pain on the one who hurt him most in his life, he ruined the man’s reputation, killed the man’s siblings and friends, and then removed his limbs, making him a human stick.
“How could he!? Surely the man must have known how much the cursed man loved him, why would he do all that? Was the betrayal that hurtful?”
Calm down Binghe, dry your tears.
It wasn’t just the betrayal, it was the words the cursed man was made to speak, words that shredded through every insecurity the man might have had, words that made him seem like the world’s greatest beast. Words that the cursed man never thought were true but was made to speak.
And it wasn’t only the words, it was them, combined with sending the man away, he didn’t just send him away Binghe like we would send a disciple on a mission, he threw his loved one over a cliff.
“So, the loved one, would have thought that the cursed man was trying to kill him, and so took revenge by actually killing him”
Yes, but that was the ending told by the curse, the man didn’t want to believe it, he couldn’t, it was impossible for him to think that his loved one would be capable of such cruelty.
But I haven’t heard the end of the story. So, I can only imagine where it might have gone.
“What do you think happened Shizun?”
Huh?
“What do imagine happened?”
I like to imagine that maybe, the loved heard the story like you did, that maybe he through through the cursed mans actions, and saw how different they were to how the man treated him before.
I like to think, that if the cursed man, even if he was unable to give an explanation, gave apologies. And that his loved one accepted them.
I think it would have been nice, if there was a pleasant ending to the story.
“I think I like your ending better Shizun”
Well, maybe one day I’ll hear the proper ending to the story.
“Oh, Shizun, if you do…”
You’ll be the first one I tell Binghe.
~ 3 Years after Binghe had been pushed into the endless abyss ~
~ Binghe has arrived, not at Huan Hua Palace, but back at the little bamboo cottage that he once shared with his Shizun, who is currently settling for bed ~
“Shizun, do you remember how you once told me a story, about a cursed man and his loved one, who he was doomed to hurt and betray?”
Yes Binghe, I remember, you cried when you heard how it ended.
“Yes, and I remember saying I liked your ending better”
…
“Shizun, how did the story end? Was the cursed man ever able to explain himself?”
No, he wasn’t, even after all the years apart, he wasn’t able to communicate his curse to anyone.
But…
“But?”
It turns out that the cursed man wasn’t alone in the suffering, there was another, with a similar curse to him, a whole new story but with the same curse.
“How did that story go Shizun?”
The new cursed man was different in comparison, the curse affected him from his childhood, he didn’t just wake up with it one day, and from his childhood followed the curse as it laid out his life’s story.
“What was his life’s story Shizun?”
That he would work his way into a high position, and then betray his siblings for a man, a demon.
“Oh, does Shizun not approve of this demon?”
As far as demons in stories go, he isn’t the worst, the demon was a prince, and the cursed man would become his spy and servant, protecting him from the mechanisms of his family, while also feeding him information on how to become stronger.
The cursed man wasn’t dissatisfied with his curse, he could almost say he would have enjoyed it, but…
“But what Shizun?”
The cursed man knew that his actions would lead to others being killed, being harmed, and that at the end of his curse’s path, would be his death, at the hands of the prince he served.
“He would be killed by a demon?”
It didn’t matter to the cursed man that he was a demon, what mattered was that he had no idea of how to prevent his death, his curse let it be known that he would be killed if he betrayed his demon prince, and that actions taken to save his siblings would be taken as betrayal.
“So, the man would die if he betrayed his prince, but if he didn’t his siblings would die instead?”
Yes.
The cursed man spent over 30 years trying to think of a way to escape his curse, but he couldn’t. he would have to follow the curse’s path, a hope that something would change.
“How did this story end Shizun? Did he manage to save his siblings? Or did he choose his demon prince?”
In the end, he was going to choose his prince, who had become a king. But that was where his story crossed with the first one I told you, the two cursed men were linked.
“What does that mean? Could they use the other to escape the curse? To warn the first man’s loved one?”
No, by the time they had met, both paths were already in motion, the cursed man’s loved one was already thrown away, and the second man had already betrayed his siblings.
Neither could save each other from their curses, all they could do was accept their ends.
“Their ends Shizun?”
At the hands of their loved ones, the second man would accept death at the hands of his king, and the first man would accept punishment at the hands of his loved one. Neither were planning to run from their curses ends.
“Is it the end though?”
Pardon
“Is that the end of the curse? For them to receive punishment?”
I don’t know, I suppose the men would assume so, since the curse didn’t seem to reach past their punishment.
“Did the curse want them to be hurt? If the loved one’s didn’t punish them, would the curse hurt them?”
No, the curse was strongest years before, when the men were faced with the pivotal moment of their lives, hurting his loved one, and saving his king.
“So, if the curse doesn’t affect afterwards, does that mean that it’s gone from them?”
I don’t know, I could assume so, maybe for the second cursed man, but I couldn’t say for the first, his curse had a detailed plan for his future.
“You mean the ruining of his reputation?”
Yes. The first man had a difficult past, one that he longed to bury, and later, one that he couldn’t really remember, just that it was something he never wanted to remember. He thought that by unveiling his past in front of others, his reputation would be destroyed.
“What was this past Shizun, that he wanted to forget so badly”
…
…
“Shizun?”
The cursed man was once a slave Binghe, sold to a rich house, a house that mistreated him badly. They hurt him in every way imaginable. Every way.
“Sh-shizun…”
The man didn’t remember his past Binghe, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt him, someone from the family blamed the deaths of the rest on him, placing the blame on the shoulders of the man was had been only 15 at the time. How would a hurt child of 15 been able to kill all the men and leave the women Binghe?
“He would have had to have been very strong”
Or perhaps very scared.
The problem with the man’s past, was that it would hurt others by association. One of his siblings in adulthood was also a slave with him, and if his reputation went down, the other would try to save him, bringing all his siblings into the mess.
“And the man didn’t want anyone else involved? Even to protect himself?”
No, it was only between him and his loved one.
“I think I understand now Shizun”
Binghe?
“I understand now, and I think I know the stories ending”
Do you. And how does it end?
“It ends like this”
Binghe crawls on top of Shen Yuan, and puts himself onto his lap, cuddling himself closer.
Shen Yuan holds him close and tight, his grip refused to let his disciple go.
“Shizun”
Yes Binghe
“Did you miss me?”
Of course I did, I missed you every day.
“Oh… did you know I would come back?”
You came back earlier than I expected, but you always surpassed my expectations
“Oh, am I still your disciple?”
Always, you’ll aways be my disciple, you’ll always be my Binghe
“Shizun, can I stay with you tonight?”
You can stay with me every night Binghe, this will always be your home
“Thank you Shizun”
Thank you, for coming home to me
“I’ll always come home to you Shizun, I love you”
I love you too Binghe