Eutopia ⚘ Beyond The Scene

M

It has been said that once something strong happens to you, you don't end up being the same person. Whether it has to do with love, despair, or heartbreak. But those things make you stronger; so you put on a smile and show the world that you can take it on better than they assumed.

-NOTVANTE

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Late at night, when I tried to sleep I couldn't. Something didn't feel right and I could not stop thinking about what that boy, Taehyung, had said. I do see what he meant. How we were liking under utopias that would never change, how we were all trapped in this bubble of lies. I agreed. And that's exactly why I couldn't get some decent sleep all night. His words lingered in the depth of my conscience for who knows how long. When my alarm rang for me to get up, I quickly pressed it to stop the loud buzzing noise and sighed. I think sighing was a big part of my life. After laying in bed for a while I stood up slowly and sat in that same spot for a while.

As my daily ritual, I went to my piano for a bit before setting off to get ready for school. I didn't feel like going on another random adventure where I'd almost die for saving someone who I didn't even know. Still, I planned to find out more on him and who he was. I don't think I've ever seen anyone like him around.

Slipping on my worn out shoes I went to go say my goodbyes to eomma but she was out of sight. Instead, white roses were sprawled on the table. I looked at them for a bit before taking off to school. If I missed any more days of school I would be dropped out and would have to restart my high school years all over again. I most certainly did not want that.

The weather today was cold but not as cold as yesterday. My hands were still numb from the frostbite I got yesterday afternoon, and they would remain so a little longer until they got back to normal. As long as they went back to normal I would be fine.

Getting to school was the cherry on top. Walking around school like nothing. At school, I always had problems with people. No one ever wanted to get close to me and befriend me for some strange reason. It was like I was a parasite of some sort. Still, I ignored most of the people I had my class with. They were kind and all, but they had a bad habit of spreading rumors like no other. It was repellent.

All the kids in my school would talk about was those famous Bangtan boys. They were quite looked up to for their bravery and awesome ways of standing up against today's expectations. They were almost like a fashion statement that has newly risen in the world of social media. Kind of weird if you put it that way. They were almost this word omen that was identified as neither good or evil. You chose what they stood for.

"Hello. Can everyone please open up to page three of the workbook? We'll be starting on some basic English words today. Lee-Xang, could you start us off today?"

All eyes were on me as I traced the passage with my finger mentally reading it before slowly reading it out loud.

"And so the butterfly was once alone. It was said that in this world when a butterfly flew by, it was in its state of disbandment and away it went from its family..-"

I stopped and glanced up at my teacher who nodded for me to keep going. I did as followed.

"-just to begin anew. It was hard to begin anew, which is why the butterfly pretended. It pretended to be anew, to have someone to look up for; to not be alone in such a hopeless world."

I stopped reading and sat down, glancing over the passage to make sure I didn't miss anything. Everything I read was good.

"Okay.. thank you Lee-Xang. Now class, what does that short passage tell us?"

No one spoke up. Not even the kid who knew everything and always had an explanation for such passages. I hesitated before raising my hand softly. She called on me once again.

"Could it do with the way we live as a society?"

The teacher nodded surprised at my answer.

"Exactly, Lee-Xang. But why do you say that? What specific part or parts of the passage hint at you that this has to do about life and about the way we function as oneself in today's society?"

I glanced down at the passage and re-read it to myself. Some of my classmates quickly began laughing and pointing at me causing the teacher to slam her yardstick down against the podium in disapproval.

"I don't see anything funny! You guys should be doing the same thing as her. Analyzing and comprehending the passage. She seems to be the only one in this class who can!"

The class instantly quieted down at Ms. Lang's statement. I cleared my throat before speaking up once more.

"The part that says, and I quote, "just to begin anew. It was hard to begin anew, which is why the butterfly pretended. It pretended to be anew, to have someone to look up for, to not be alone in such a world," —That whole part represents us as a person. Our actions and how we tend to want to mimic or copy something or someone, just to be pleasing in others' eyes. It's like a metaphor of a person who cannot find themselves, so they use what makes others unique to replace their inner emptiness."

Mouth agape, the teacher stared at me in awe. The rest of the class did just about the same.

"Tell me... students.. any other thoughts on this? Yes, please go ahead."

Someone from the very back of the class cleared his throat and began talking. We all found it strange that he spoke up. He was usually well kept to himself, always acing everything but never getting into school-related topics until now.

"If you take a feather and you let it sit on your fingers, the feather has an option to go left or right. Of course, not completely on its own. It tends to be pushed around by air, which is the only way it would move. In society, many of us tend to be the feather in the grip of anyone's hand, crying hard to find a direction in which to head. We choose left, we choose right, but when we choose down, why can't we choose to go up? If you think about it, everything we do nowadays is controlled by someone above us. Whether it's an adult or an elder that we want to make proud. Only feathers fall, they never go up."

After such a speech, he cozied himself up and went back to sleep. The teacher never bothered to get him to wake up. All he cared for was if we were being active enough, he gave his part.

"Wonderful view of society nowadays. Very clever. Anyone else-" the bell cut her off short. We all began packing up our things in a hurry.

"Next time we will discuss growing up and how it affects us! What we can do to become different people and what we need to do to stay young at heart."

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