15 The Way to the Palace (1)

'Never take no as an answer, Song Yuna.'

That was what her life motto was, after all.

After that, Rin's mom fell ill; Rin started to take care of her mother and made her eat. Min agreed with accompanying Yuna to the palace and taking her there safely until she can go back to her world.

Yuna knew that it was not going to be accessible at all. After she exchanged her coins and small bills at the traditional market after claiming that she came from the land ruled by the Song Dynasty, she could get a handful of silver coins used to trade, exchange, and even buy goods and services.

As Min instructed, she bought a jute bag to put her belongings and even clothes in there. To fully camouflage as a native in Goguryeo, she had to buy two pairs of a decent-looking overcoat traditional-looking upper clothes and a skirt, with pink and white combination chosen by Min.

Rin even had to buy a white tube and skirt as something they had to consider and wear as an undergarment. To look more like someone from the kingdom, she even tied her hair into a bun and erased her fierce-looking makeup.

Even though she wanted to look like a badass fashionable woman in Goguryeo, she had to hide her true identity as a future idol slash fashionista and an aspiring paramedic in the real modern world.

When she went out of where she bought the clothes from, Min's jaw dropped and looked at her from head to toe. She did her signature pose, putting both her hands behind her head and a slight smile to complete her look.

Yuna had to admit she did not feel uncomfortable with him looking at her like that. She knew she looked pretty in everything that she wore, so it was natural for a man not to resist her.

She just became desperate at that time.

It was early in the morning that they went to travel. Min was walking far ahead of Yuna, and she was struggling to keep her pace with him. She realized how ungentlemanly Min was when he did not even look back at her once.

"Min," Yuna called him out, as Yuna became more unfamiliar with the clothes she was wearing and ended up dragging her feet. She was panting and even coughed; it was like the two of them were in a hiking course. "Wait for me! Are you racing against something?"

"Lady Yuna," Min stopped as he turned to look at his back where Yuna was. They were in the middle of a forest; it was something they had to pass by to reach faster to the capital and the center of the Goguryeo Kingdom. "We are still halfway to our destination." His expression hardened as he looked at Yuna sternly, "I predict us to arrive at the palace in the evening, but if you are going to be as slow as a snail—"

"Yes, yes, sir," Yuna managed to stop Min's nagging and sprinted towards him. The sun rays were scorchingly hot, and the water they brought was not that enough for them. "I will just shut up and try my best to reach the palace as fast as I can—-"

But just after a split second after Yuna said that she tripped on the edge of her skirt and fell down face first. When Yuna raised her head, she already saw Min in front of her, crouching and offering his hand for her to stand up.

Embarrassment was what Yuna felt at first, but then, there was a slight pain in her forehead that made her want to cry.

It was painful, but she did not know why her chest ached too. Being raised in an environment where she did not have someone else to help her rise up, she felt touched when Min came to her and offered his hand.

If she were honest, Yuna was away from her family and trapped in an unknown place, and the timeline had slightly taken a toll on her. At first, she was in denial and thought that it was a dream. No, it was not. So she tried to be strong and never gave up when she met Min and Rin, who were the kindest people she ever knew.

"Come here; I will not walk ahead anymore." Min sighed in relief and gave Yuna a weak smile. For some reason, his smile comforted Yuna a lot. Both of them were having a hard time in their ways but never complained.

Grabbing Yuna's right arm, Min guided Yuna to stand up. Min slightly bent down and wiped the soil, small rocks, and specks of dust on Yuna's skirt. She just stared at him like she was an abandoned, lonely cat being taken care of by a handsome, cold but caring guy wearing traditional clothes.

"What are you going to do if I did not accompany you here?" Min told her as he stood properly and met her gaze. His sharp, charcoal-gray-colored eyes looked compelling enough for her that made her heart skip a beat. Her gaze fell on his moist lips, "Lady Yuna."

To see his face as close as this, Yuna realized that he was poreless and had the perfect, almost pale skin tone like hers. Min's eyes were now at her, and Yuna felt encouraged.

She knew that she had to focus on going back to her world and even felt slightly attracted to Min; she knew she had to leave him anyway.

They walked and walked, eating the dumplings Yuna bought from yesterday, carrying the things they needed to survive.

The sun already went down, and just on time, they arrived at the center of the Kingdom as they predicted. They gazed at the big walls of gates in front of them; it was Goguryeo Kingdom's palace.

The palace looked big and enormous. It was somehow different from what Yuna was familiar with and what she saw in the modern world. As they planned to sneak in, they went around and looked for a spot where there were lesser palace guards.

It was already ten late at night. They were just trying to sneak around and trying to find the right timing.

"What are the two of you doing here?!"