Two

The sound of chirping birds and warmth from the risen sunset was a comforting atmosphere for the bare-backed man who was laying on a large, four-poster bed. With a groan, he rolled onto his back and let out a small yawn before opening his eyes. He stared at the ceiling of his bed for some meditative minutes before sitting up and flinging his legs off the bed.

A sudden knock on the door had him scowling as he wanted a peaceful morning before seeing anybody.

"Enter," he ordered and sat up, then made his way over to the cushion on the floor where his robe was.

As he grabbed it and slipped it on, the large doors of his room opened. He turned around and rolled his eyes when he saw it was his mother.

"What do you want?" He asked and the woman beamed before tiptoeing over to him.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked and started to look around the room like she was looking for someone. "Where is she, Jeong-hun?"

Jeong-hun frowned. "Where's who?"

"Come on now. Don't act like you don't know who I am talking about."

"The concubine?"

His mother gasped and covered his mouth with her small hand. She glared up at him while he kept a straight face. He rolled his eyes again and yanked her hand away from his face.

"You can't call her a concubine, Jeong-hun! That's disrespectful."

"What's disrespectful is sending a woman into my room in the middle of the night when I've told everyone in this palace that I don't want anyone!"

"Jeong-hun, how long will you keep up with this attitude of yours?" The anger in his mother's voice was slowly rising.

Jeong-hun moved away from his mother's presence and stopped in front of the opened window overlooking the wide expanse of land, trees, and the river that was close to the palace.

"You need to move on from her, Jeong-hun."

One too many times, people have told him to move on from the loss of someone he truly loved. Someone who made him feel what love was after years of growing up with a heart that made him hate emotions. After her death, he had gone back to his old self; unbothered and cold, according to the people around him and the gossip he heard from the guards and maids.

"Jeong-hun, I—"

"Mother, please. I am not about to have this depressing conversation with you at this hour of the day. Let me have a peaceful day. Please, leave my room," Jeong-hun pointed at the door while he kept his eyes outside the window.

Without another word, the woman left and shut the door aggressively, making him flinch. He dropped his hand and leaned against the window frame.

"I miss you, Chun-Ja," he said in a low voice. "I miss the days and nights we spent together. I missed the way you used to smile and the way you used to laugh."

Jeong-hun bowed his head and stepped away from the window. His eyes immediately went over to the painting beside the entrance to his room. With a wry smile, he walked over to it and stared at the painting of his beloved, Chun-Ja. The painting illustrated her perfectly long dark hair and her sharp facial structure. He raised his hand and caressed the painting with the back of his hand. His wandering gaze drifted to the bottom of the painting and a pang spread through his heart at the blood stain, the size of his fingerprint

Painful memories of the night he lost Chun-Ja flooded his head in a second.

Five years ago…

It was raining heavily with lightning flashes and thunder. Jeong-hun enjoyed the weather as he was with Chun-Ja, running in the rain, feeling one with her happiness. They ran through the quiet neighborhood, stifling their giggles and laughter until they stopped in front of a bigger house, which was her home.

"Thank you for today, Jeong-hun," she said and smiled wide, showing her perfect set of teeth.

"You don't need to thank me. Besides," he said and wrapped his arms around her waist. "By tomorrow, we'll be married. I'll make every day more special for the both of us."

Chun-Ja giggled and played with the strings from his gat. While she did, Jeong-hun took in how beautiful she was with droplets from the rain on her face. He raised his hand to her face and brushed some of the droplets before staring at her parted lips. He started to lean down until his lips brushed hers. He smiled before pressing his lips to hers in a tender kiss, which made his insides warm up from how much he adored her.

A few seconds after, he pulled away and smiled down at her flushed face.

"Go in. You need to change into something warm and rest for our wedding tomorrow," he said and she nodded.

Chun-Ja stepped away from him and climbed the steps leading to the house. She turned around and waved at him before walking into the courtyard. He smiled and walked away, feeling giddy from what was about to happen in a few hours.

×××

It was in the middle of the night and the rain had gotten worse. The rattling of his windows and doors woke him up, followed by the loud pounding on his door. He got out of bed and rushed to the door, ready to scold whoever it was but when he opened the door and saw a shaking maid he recognized as one of Chun-Ja's, he blinked hard.

"Your royal highness," the woman said in a shaky tone.

"What is it?" He asked, feeling impatient. He needed to sleep so he could marry his beloved as soon as possible.

"It's your betrothed," she said and tears started falling down her cheeks.

A sudden fear and worry filled his body when he analyzed her body language— Something was wrong somewhere.

×××

Jeong-hun forced himself to stop thinking of that very night and walked away from the painting on his wall. He ran his fingers through his long dark hair and focused on clearing his head.

"I need to take a stroll," he said. "This place is suffocating."

×××

A few hours later, Jeong-hun found himself standing before Chun-Ja's grave. The grey gravestone was uncomfortable in his eyes. He always tried to force himself to believe that Chun-Ja wasn't dead and that she was still alive, but not close by. He hated coming to her grave but he always felt her close by whenever he visited.

"Your royal highness." One of his guards said with a bow.

"What is it?" He asked and turned his head to look at the guard.

"Your father, his majesty the king seeks for your audience at the palace. The message from him says it is urgent."

Jeong-hun gritted his teeth and waved his guard away. He stared at the grave one last time before walking away.

As he walked through the lonely and narrow road of the woods, he took comfort in the birds chirping in the tall trees and the rustling of leaves. He stopped walking when he saw an old woman kneeling on the ground upfront, picking up her fallen fruits. He motioned at his guards and they rushed over to her. Jeong-hun approached them and picked up an apple close to his foot. He got closer to the woman who raised her head to look at him.

"Oh, your highness," she said and tried to bow but he stopped her.

"No, don't do that. Here," he said and handed the apple to her.

The woman took it from him but kept a strange look on her face which bothered him. When he tried to take his hand away from her, she held it tighter and smiled at him. He looked at his guards that were occupied before looking back at the woman.

"I see you have lost something so dear to you. Something that was of great importance to you," she said in a soft, motherly voice. "Is this true?"

Jeong-hun wanted to deny and act as if he knew nothing about what she was saying but a part of him made him nod his head.

"I can help. I can give you what you have lost. I can bring it back to you," she said.

At that, Jeong-hun stepped away from the woman and eyed her like she was mentally unstable. He scoffed and started to walk away.

"If you desire that which you have lost. Meet me here once the sun sets," she said to his hearing.

Jeong-hun paused for a second before continuing his walk.

×××

Sleep was far from him as he tossed and turned on his bed. It was almost as if his mind was occupied with something he could not pinpoint. It made him restless and agitated to the point he had to rise from his bed and left his room to stroll through the quiet hallway of the palace.

Jeong-hun had strolled for a long time to the point that he did not know when he got to the exact place he had met the old woman from earlier.

"How did I get here?" He asked himself and rubbed his face.

"I am glad you came."

Jeong-hun spun around in shock at the voice and saw the old woman. He looked around him for safety before staring back at her.

"Did you do this?" He asked.

"It does not matter. What matters is that I have seen your tears and heartbreak. I have—"

"Stop. Stop it right there."

The woman smiled. "Don't you want to meet your beloved?"

"What?"

Jeong-hun began to wonder if he was talking to an old woman with a sickness of the mind. He wanted to believe he wasn't wasting his time interacting with her.

"Chun-Ja is alive."

Jeong-hun froze for some seconds in shock which was quickly replaced with anger.

"Stop it. I do not enjoy it when someone jokes about her name. Respect that, I beg of you."

"I am not."

"Then what are you trying to say?!" He demanded at the top of his voice. "How can you tell me she's alive after so many years? She is gone! My Chun-Ja is gone."

"She is not. Well, she does not exist in your time anymore but now lives and waits for you in the future."

Jeong-hun chuckled. "Is this a joke?"

"I can prove it to you," she said and without waiting for him to respond, she pulled out a round mirror from her bag and raised it in front of him.

Jeong-hun stared at his reflection in confusion before a faint white glow took over the mirror. The glow lasted for five seconds before it cleared and showed him Chun-Ja, laughing and talking. His eyes went wide and his heart skipped a beat when he stared closer. It was indeed his Chun-Ja, the only difference was that she now had shoulder-length hair and fairer skin. She looked happy and healthy. She looked alive.

"Chun-Ja," he whispered and the glow vanished, making him stare at his reflection.

"She is alive but in a different time. She is in the future, Jeong-hun. I came to you because I want to end your misery. Do you want to go to her or continue living here, feeling empty for the rest of your life?"

Jeong-hun weighed the words from the woman in his head and in his heart. After seeing Chun-Ja again, a sudden rush of energy and the happiness that he always felt around her came back. He began to think of his existence, how he had no interest in the royal matters of his family ever since her death. Nothing mattered to him and he thought of this as an escape.

"Yes… I want to be with Chun-Ja," he declared.

"Good. You will be with her," she said and brought out a small box from her bag. "You can only break this after making your decision to meet her again. There are two options; do you want to be reborn when she is reborn again in the next future or do you want to meet her in this future and—"

"I want to meet her in the future I just saw," Jeong-hun replied hastily and grabbed the box from her hand. "I break this and what happens next? What about my life here?"

"You will be deemed dead. Just break the box and you will be transported to the future but—"

"I agree," he said, cutting her off. "I've waited all my life to meet her and now I have the chance to, I cannot waste it."

"But—"

Before he could wait for her to speak, he broke the box and a strong wind blew, rustling his clothes and pulling him forward. He tried to hold himself against the pull of the wind but he couldn't. He saw a red glowing door appear before him and fear took over his body. He could hear the woman say something but the strong wind filled his ears so much that he couldn't hear what she was saying. The wind blew harder and he was forced into the door and felt himself stop, then fall.

A dull headache and dizziness took over his body for some seconds before it cleared. He felt a sting in his upper body and arms which felt like glass. He rose to his feet and looked down. He panicked when he saw breasts and long hair that were different from his. Slowly, he raised his hands to his face and saw feminine hands.

Shock filled up his body when he realized what he was.

"Why am I in a lady's body?!" He asked and jumped slightly when he heard a feminine voice.