Lu Han stared at the newcomer, his eyes wide, his confusion clearly communicated. “Grand…father?”

“A version of my grandfather,” Minseok corrected him.

“Version? Is that all I am to you?” Jongdae snorted. “I thought your father was bad but my word, you are even less refined than he, my good boy.”

Minseok brought his hand to his face. Of all the ancestors to encounter….

“It is nice to meet you, Mr. Kim.” Lu Han greeted the man as pleasantly as he could given the circumstances, shaking off the awkwardness of who they were, where they were, and why they were there to begin with.

“You should learn from your friend, he is a proper gentleman,” Jongdae admonished, beaming at Lu Han and his impeccable manners.

Minseok sighed. “Jongdae–”

“Grandfather,” Jongdae interrupted, holding up his hand.

Minseok fought rolling his eyes. “You’re my age, maybe younger!”

“Respect, young man, is what our family is founded on.” Jongdae folded his arms against his chest, his bruised face displaying a deep frown.

“Fine. Fine!” Minseok gave in. “Grandfather, where are we?”

“About time you asked that.”

Minseok thought that Jongdae was in remarkably good spirits given his current state. Bloody, bruised, snarky, with a wide smile on his face –– exactly like the grandpa he remembered.

“First literati purge, Joseon. Fourteen ninety eight by the reckoning you go by in that dusty old place you call home,” Jongdae rattled off. “You managed to commit the crime of being intelligent, my dear boy, and for that you will dearly pay with your life.”

“Jo-see-on,” Lu Han sounded out the word. “Korea?”

“The very one!” Jongdae snapped his fingers. “Amazing place if you aren’t about to be drawn and quartered.”

Lu Han audibly gulped.

“You said you were here to save us?” Minseok asked, not liking the sound of a painful death. He glanced towards Lu Han and noted how confused the man looked, but honestly he could not blame him. It was so much to take in for someone who was not accustomed to such travels.

“How do I understand you?” Lu Han asked, his voice cracking. “I cannot speak the language.”

Jongdae and Minseok looked at the adventurer and answered in tandem. “Science.”

“You are a chip off the old block!” Jongdae punched Minseok’s arm, pleased at his response.

Minseok flinched, the pain of the journey and whatever had been done to his body in this world still very present.

Jongdae gave a nod in apology, then continued his ramble. “Sorry. Now, now, back to the matter at hand. Yes, I shall save you, but for a price. You know better than anyone, kid, that the Kim’s are not a charitable lot.”

“What do you want?” Minseok asked dryly, expecting as much. If only he had run into one of his aunts or perhaps his father, he wouldn’t have to bargain for help.

“Take me with you. I’ve been stuck here for…” Jongdae looked up at the ceiling, mentally tallying his length of stay. “Too long. Far too long and it doesn’t seem that I am going anywhere fast.”

“How would I take you with us?! Impossible!” Minseok remarked, his voice raising a few notes in protest. He had only now ended up at the same place as the man he strapped into his great invention, moving ancestors along with him was terribly unlikely no matter what they wanted.

Jongdae wagged a bloodied finger in Minseok’s face. “Nonsense. You have the means right here.” He turned to Lu Han. “I have it on good authority that this one can do many things.”

“You just met him!” Minseok said skeptically. He had learned during a particularly trying jaunt to the warring states period that his grandfather was not always to be trusted.

“I did, but you didn’t. I mean, the you that wasn’t you, this you, mentioned him. Not to mention Junmyeon, the common dandy couldn’t stop talking about him. Lu Han this, Lu Han that. Well, you know how it is, old boy. You never know how it began or where it ended, only bits and pieces.”

“Junmyeon is here?” Minseok’s heart rate spiked at the news.

“Was here, old boy. Long gone, I’m afraid.”

Junmyeon was there. Gone again, would they ever cross paths in these infinite realities?

Lu Han cleared his throat, gaining the two men’s attention. “I would rather avoid being drawn and quartered, if possible.”

“I like him,” Jongdae whispered, even though Lu Han could clearly hear him in the tiny cell.

“Fine. Whatever we can do to get you out of here we will do. Now save us.” Minseok settled back, his head still throbbing. The energy required for the conversation made him woozy. It was strange, when he travelled like this. There was always a burst of energy, a different feeling...his personality shifting ever so. But still, the fatigue set in.

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” Jongdae’s eyes lit up at the promise. “You'll be saved tomorrow right before they tie the ropes.”

Minseok wondered if that was supposed to be reassuring.

“Now turn in, kids, we have a long night ahead of us. I doubt our cell neighbor will stop be his fate anytime soon.” Like clockwork a sad wail sounded from somewhere nearby.

Jongdae wasn’t bothered by the anguished cry. He shoved hay to one side of the tiny cell and slumped down, closing his eyes without another word.

Minseok sighed, knowing very well rest was impossible no matter how broken he felt.

Lu Han scooted next to him a few minutes later, Jongdae emitting low snores, the quiet wail of despair still in the background. Minseok was leaning against the wall of the small cell, waiting, and thinking, Lu Han’s sudden proximity startling him.

“I have seen many strange sights,” Lu Han began quietly, once he was sitting next to Minseok, only a few inches between them. “This by far is the strangest.”

“I dare say it won’t get better,” Minseok muttered.  He knew as much from the times he was wrenched into these strange places. Still, there was a hint of empathy creeping into his mind, a strange feeling. Perhaps, he considered, it was because of what Jongdae had told him – Lu Han was somehow different than the others, could facilitate shifts and open the pathways. Or perhaps, Minseok wagered, he was hit on the head a bit too hard when he travel led.

“I don’t understand any of it,” Lu Han admitted. “I don’t think I ever will.”

Minseok looked over at the adventurer and was surprised to see his lips curled into a smile. The man was smiling in the midst of this chaotic reality. How strange.

“You seem like you have more energy here,” Lu Han said quietly. “Is that true?”

“Perhaps.” Minseok shifted his position, hugging his knees to his chest. He was acutely aware that in this cramped cell Lu Han was so close, yet he could not understand why that proximity bothered him, why the hair raised on his arms.

“You grandpa, is he–”

Lu Han stopped speaking, his eyes going wide. Minseok glanced at him, then followed his gaze to the door of the cell. Crouched down, her face in the window of the cell, was a woman. A very beautiful woman.

“I have bargained for your release, husband,” she spoke softly, her voice dripping with poise and elegance.

Minseok swallowed. Not again. “I, thank you.”

The woman glared at him, then looked past him to Lu Han. “Please, do not try my patience. The king has been merciful to you, but your lover shall die, as it should be. We shan’t speak of this again, you have embarrassed my pride for more than this lifetime.”

Lu Han looked at Minseok in horror, the two men sharing a look of confusion.

Keys rattled outside and the door was thrown open, a pair of guards shadowing the woman. She stared eagerly at Lu Han, completely ignoring the other two men.

“I--husband?!” Lu Han squeaked, looking at Minseok with wide eyes.

“It happens, kid, get used to it,” Jongdae muttered, rolling over on his small hay pile, stifling a yawn.

“If you dare to stay for his sake I shall never forgive you!” she cried, her eyes sending daggers into Lu Han’s soul.