The air rippled, two persons appeared in the room at the school, one was in an ancient general amour and the other in a pastel green dress. Both of them stared at each other, the woman nearly screamed while the man was looking around him warily.

“I can’t travel to the wrong time” she was murmuring, totally disregarding the man. She looked around her, it seemed to be correct, it was 2015, she managed to found a calendar in the room. But how did that man appeared, she wondered.

He finally spoke, “who are you? Where are we? Why am I here?” His voice was soft and gentle, he spoke in a well manner way. Although she didn’t felt like answering him, she knew his appearance was more or less her mistake. She should have done something wrong during her time travel that had caused his time travel.

“I am Song ji Hyo, from the look at it, we should be in a school in 2015. I may be the cause you are here. By the way, what is your name?” Ji Hyo answered him.

“I am Kim Jong Kook, general of King Sejong. Please send me back to the king, I am preparing for a very important meeting with the King, it will affect the people of Joseon.” Jong Kook said. She looked at him in misbelief, how could he be so calm and acted like nothing had happened.

“I can’t, I don’t know. I have an important mission, once my mission is complete, I will go back to my time and maybe you can go back yours.” Ji Hyo said.

“If I help you to complete your mission, you could then send me back to the King?” he asked, there was no nervousness portrait in his voice. Ji Hyo nodded.

“Let’s change your clothes, you are too outstanding in this”, but that is easier said than done, eventually, she managed to find a pair of jeans and white t-shirt his size, she left his hair long, tying a pony tail at the back. “He looks good” she thought.

“Can you explain where are we” he asked politely.

“We are in the year 2015, nearly 700 years from the time you are at. This should be future to you” she explained, hardly able to deny the man request. “I am from the year 2315, I am here to gather some study material for understanding man and woman relationship in this time. We will go and observe lovers”

“Lovers, what are those?” He was not familiar with the term.

Ji Hyo gave it a thought “Maybe something like husband and wife”

He blushed, how could she observed what happen between man and wife and he had to help? The blush on his face deepened. Ji Hyo causally held his arm to lead him to her first place of interest. He flinched and tried to remove her touch by walking faster. Ji Hyo grinned. He was an interesting object too. She caught up with him and asked him to follow her.

They took the subway to han gang. She could sense his uneasiness; it was like an animal trapped in an enclosed area. She sighed with relief when they reached their destination, she signaled him to follow her and they left the subway. His eyes were alert and scanning their surroundings.  It was so different from where he came, here is brighter, noisier and things seem faster. They don’t travel much on foot and horses but relying on metal snakes and beetles to go from place to place.

The woman that was leading the way, he felt she was special. His interaction with women is limited, in his time, women from respectable families do not interact with any man. His mum had taught him not to interact with any women too, if there is a need, it must be done with integrity and respect. But when he laid his eyes on her for the first time, he felt the casual and yet dignified air around her.

Jong Kook stomach suddenly growled loudly. Ji Hyo studied the blushed man in interest. She went into a small restaurant near the subway and ordered 2 bowls of bibimab, one small and one extra large. She put the extra large bowl in front of Jong Kook, he nodded his thanks. Both of them ate in silent. “He must really be hungry.” She thought. After Jong Kook had his filll, he remembered something important.

“Do you think they accept my coins?” he asked Ji Hyo.

“They sure not going to, but I will” giggled Ji Hyo. Jong Kook handed her some of the coins. She kept in her bag. She was thinking how much all this would fetch her when she went back to her time. She didn’t break the rules, she hadn’t took anything from this time. She quickly paid for the meal.

They both were now strolling along the han gang. Just as the books had indicated, there are a lot of couples strolling along the river. She found an empty seat and motioned Jong Kook to take a seat. Jong Kook, in the meanwhile, was feeling embarrassed. “How could people bring things from the bedroom to the public” he thought. Then he noticed Ji Hyo was looking at him instead of the couple.

Ji Hyo had noticed his discomfort and felt he is a better object to observe than those boring couples. His small eyes were filled with distaste. She giggled. “We are more open than them in my times” she shared. His focus is on her now, slightly shaking his head. “But I still believe in old love stories, let is why I am here to bring back some. Do you have a wife?” she asked from nowhere.

“I can’t have a wife now, I am busy building the nation,” he said. “I couldn’t marry any girl too. The person must understand me and my work. My country and the King are the most important thing in my life.”

“Oh, doesn’t your generation think it is important to reproduce, first family then country?” she asked, she remembered reading something like this during one of her classes and as a history major, she couldn’t had remembered wrongly.

He looked at her, “Well, my mother had wanted to help me arrange for one but I told her I would find one myself and before I turned 30.”

“Well, you should learn and start look for one when you are back.” she suggested.

She noticed the red tint on his face came back. She didn’t dare to laugh at the shy man in case he left her. He would be the key for him to go back home. They need to return to the same place and go back to their own time together.

They sat there and observe a few more pairs, she yawned, these people are quite boring. Most of them are actually interlocking hands while playing on their phones. She decided to call it a day. Jong Kook was observing the couples, he felt they weren’t very much in love, each of them seem to be doing their own things. Maybe he had thought too much, who is he to comment of been in love, he haven’t even had someone before. He stole a glance at the girl beside him, this was really the closest he had gotten with a girl.

Ji Hyo had booked a room in the hostel, it was a single room and she hadn’t brought much with her, just the essential. She looked at the man that followed her into the room, “This is where we will be staying.” She said matter of fact.

Jong Kook looked at her in surprise, “We? A man and a woman who are not marry could not stay in the same room”

“Well, I didn’t carry enough money to book a room for you now and really, it not very big deal in my era”, Ji Hyo said. Jong Kook eyes brow knitted together. He didn’t like her era a lot.

“Well, in my era, we do not. I will rest in the garden we walked past just now” Jong Kook turned to leave, Ji Hyo quickly stopped him.

“You will be caught by the police. Really, I trust you, I don’t know why but I really trust you. Please stay, if we wanted to go back, we need to be together, anything that happens to one of us, the other might get stuck here forever.” She pleaded. Jong Kook looked at her, and nodded. There’s really nothing much he can do.

Both of them had a quick bath before calling it a night, Ji Hyo on the bed and Jong Kook on the floor. Ji Hyo was feeling bad that she somehow had implicated Jong Kook on her journey.

“Jong Kook,” she called his name softly.

Jong Kook was thinking about his misfortune, he couldn’t help but like the expressive girl, girls from his era couldn’t be like this. He heard his name, and his heartbeat hastened. “Yes?” he answered, his voice mirroring her tone.

“I am sorry I got you into this. I promise you I will get you back to where you are from once I am done.” She promised him, her heart suddenly sadden by her own promised.

“Ok”, he replied, his heart seemed to be already dreading the day they will be separated.