>_____<;;

Namjoo continued staring at Chanyeol before she slowly stepped toward the house since there was no other choice. She might as well try to figure out why she was there in order to get the answer to what was going on, because this surely wasn’t reality.  

“Come eat!” the woman from earlier called out and Namjoo saw that she had the table set with bowls and plates.

Chanyeol waited for her slow arrival before he reached out for her hand and led her over to the table. He let their son down before setting his free hand on her shoulder.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked somewhat worried, and why he was worried Namjoo couldn’t understand. He raised a brow and waited for her reply, but when she didn’t he turned to who he called, “Mom, did you give her some medicine?”

“Oh, she slept it off. Eat this chicken,” his mom reached over to settle a piece of chicken on her empty plate. “Eat it for the baby. Look at how small Hyunseung is. Your baby should come out plump and healthy this time. Here, eat up!”

Baby…another baby. Namjoo felt everything crash inside her head before she felt something slide up .

She was going to be sick.

Quickly turning away on impulse she drew herself up and ran out the front gate. Whatever was happening here, she wanted to end right away. No, she couldn’t see this happening. A baby with…Chanyeol!?

Namjoo heard footsteps chasing her, but she remained unaware of it before she suddenly bent over and threw up into the lazy grass outside. A large hand patted her back gently and before she could wipe off the saliva from her lips he turned her around and did so with his sleeve. Namjoo felt her heart melt at the gesture. Chanyeol was touching her soft spot again; whether it was really hers or this body’s soft spot.

“Come on, I’ll get you some water,” he suggested before gently taking her hand and led her outback where a large basin filled with fresh water stood against the house.

He scooped some out with a tiny basket before lifting it up to her lips. Namjoo stared at it before looking at him. Was the water safe to even drink? But she couldn’t ask him for the stupid look she might receive in return. Parting her lips she drank a fair amount and realized she was thirsty. Chanyeol placed his hand at her back before running his hand over her face. The way he looked at her was full of so many tender emotions in which Namjoo didn’t know how to react to. By now they would have hugged as it was their ritual to do so, but this Chanyeol just gazed at her as if he couldn’t get enough.

This bright smile climbed over his lips before he ran a hand over her face and held her near for a peck on the forehead. His expression of emotions was really something, she thought when he turned her around and hugged her from behind.

“Do you think we’re having a boy again this time?” he asked placing the palm of his hand over her stomach. “I hope we have a girl, see how pretty she’ll grow up to be.”

Words raced throughout her mind, but she was too shocked by everything to correctly form them. Then she suddenly recalled the drawings in the house. “Those sketches in the room, did you draw them?”

He turned to look at her confused by the question, “I thought you already knew that. Why are you asking?” Then he let go of her worried. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Oh…yea…I’m fine,” Namjoo tried to sound enthusiastic no matter the confusion. She was starting to worry if she was acting too different from this Namjoo in this lifetime. But it wasn’t like anyone would understand her situation or believe it even if she tried explaining it to anyone.

“Officer Lee invited me to go draw for him, and he said he’ll pay a fair amount. We can start preparing the baby’s clothes with that money and get Hyunseung something new to wear,” he chatted on excited. “Do you want to come with me? The village air might help freshen you up.”

The village…

Namjoo thought about it hard. Of course. She first needed to get out of the house before she could leave this lifetime and return to the 21^st century.

“Yes.”

>_____<;;

Chorong was slowly starting to freak out. She couldn’t get married here, now, in this place! It wasn’t important who she was marrying. It was perhaps some rich old geezer.

“I have to get out of here,” Chorong paced back and forth with the red dress draped over her arm then she paused to glance at the door.

But first, she needed to block the lock-less door with something or else the petty maid might unwelcomingly drop in again. And that was the last thing Chorong wanted at the moment.

Her eyes quickly landed on the dressers in the room then landed on the wooden floor. Since she couldn’t carry the dresser she might as well push it across the room. Chorong spent a mere 10 minutes struggling with the dresser before she finally pushed it in front of the door and turned toward the open windows.

When Chorong peered out she spotted a perfectly green yard outside. Chorong thanked god no one was out and estimated that she was probably on the second floor, which wasn’t too far of a jump. She’d learned good sneaking-out techniques from Namjoo who’d often done it during her rebellious years.

“Stupid dress,” Chorong cussed when she tried lifted her leg over the edge only to have the width of the dress limit her. Groaning she held up her dress and lifted her leg over the edge. “Why weren’t pants already invented…”

She suddenly paused and turned when she heard the door swing open.

“Young Miss!” it was the same maid again.

Her eyes grew wide. She thought she’d blocked the door from being opened before she realized she’d stupidly forgotten that the door opened out from inside the room, not in. But at least she’d blocked the maid from coming in.

“Where are you going!? Young Miss!? Return this instant! Your parents will be up soon!”

Parents…

“Hold them off for me!” Chorong raised her arm to bid farewell before she escaped.

Once she her feet landed on the ground she began to run for it, but her bigger problem was that she didn’t know where the front doors were.

“Oh crap!” Chorong felt her heart race in panic when she made a roundabout turn in the large yard.

How rich was her family? If they were rich enough to own such large property, they probably had a reputation to protect…and she would be the ruin of it. But it wasn’t time to worry about this Chorong, but herself.

She ran around in circles and almost crashed into statues before she spotted two large iron doors ahead. Barely any maids or servants were around and she supposed they’d been all ordered in to prepare goods for the wedding. Without a care Chorong pushed the heavy door open and dashed out into the street. As soon as she rounded the long corner she spotted a very long dirt road ahead.

“Oh great…where am I going?” Chorong turned back to see another long road behind her.

Frustration was starting to get into her skin. What was she doing here!? Rolling her eyes she dashed forward when the petty maid brought out two men with her. It was thanks to it that she suddenly reached the poorer homes of this century and while walking through the mazelike homes she arrived lost in a crowd; the market.

Men, women, children, and some stray animals dominated the large area. Chorong’s eyes ran over their clothing and felt a little bewildered to be surrounded by so many.

“Don’t just stand there, young lady!” someone scolded after bumping into her.

Chorong took a step to the side and screamed when chickens began jumping and screaming in their own language.

“Watch it!” the stand owner screamed at her before shooing her away.

Chorong’s eyes grew wide and she was even more frustrated. Stepping away from the shop she wiped at her silk dress to keep it clean and started making her way into the crowd. There were raw meat, simple handmade jewelries, hair decorations, and cloth sitting on the tables for customers to look at. Chorong paused for a bit to look at a bracelet, but was yelled at for having touched it. Muttering to herself about how pesky people were she walked away and stopped when she saw familiar figures pass by.

She knew it. She wasn’t alone. Narrowing her eyes she quickly trudged her way through the crowd to follow.

>_____<;;

“Angels?” Changmin repeated. “What’s with the talk? Dreams and now angels?”

Victoria raised her brows and widened her eyes still prompting him for an answer.

Changmin frowned a little. “I don’t know. Why, you met one?”

“No,” Victoria flatly answered somewhat negatively; irritancy underlying her tone. “I’m trying to solve a puzzle.”

“A puzzle,” Changmin repeated again. “Tell me about it, I’ve been solving them all my career.”

“Oh no, I don’t think this is something you can solve,” Victoria shook her head before turning her wrist over to glance at the time. “It’s been almost half an hour. Where is that guy?” Then she turned to him, “Are you sure you called the right place?”

“Calm down,” Changmin said. “You’re acting like it’s the end of the world.”

Victoria shot him a long stare before turning away with an annoyed sigh. By now anything could have happened to her sisters and she wouldn’t even know.

“Worried about your sisters?” Changmin asked. “How old are they? I’m sure they can take care of themselves.”

“That’s not the point here,” Victoria hissed.

“Ok,” Changmin said a little sarcastically, “so what is the point?”

When Victoria opened her lips to start talking a bright light almost blinded her and she immediately stood with a loud, “Finally!”

“Sorry, I got lost looking around,” someone stepped out of the car. “Something’s wrong with the engine?”

“Ah…it’s fine. Thanks for coming out so late at night,” Changmin said before they engrossed themselves into a conversation.

Victoria stood by nervously biting her thumbnail again hoping that this would be quick.

>_____<;;

Namjoo felt Chanyeol’s tight grip on her hand as he led her along the crowd and made sure she stayed close in case she drifted from him. Her eyes scanned the busy crowd and wondered if ever the dirt got into anyone’s eyes when the wind blew.

“Heading out for your job again? Such a hardworking young man,” one of the elders sitting outside a restaurant greeted Chanyeol when they passed by. “Your mother said there’s another baby along the way.”

“Ah…yes.” Chanyeol stopped politely.

Namjoo glanced into the old man’s face and suddenly thought he wouldn’t have much time left to live. An awkward smile lit her face when their eyes met.

“I can tell your next baby’s going to be as pretty as Hyunseung when he’s got such lovely parents.”

“Namjoo!” someone loudly whispered and Namjoo immediately whipped around to scan the loud crowd around her.

Unable to sight anyone she frowned and turned back to see Chanyeol and the old man in a conversation.

“Namjoo!” the whisper came again and when Namjoo turned around she felt her eyes grow wide at the silk hanbok Chorong was in.

Her older sister was hiding behind the corner of the restaurant building gesturing for her to go over, but it wouldn’t be as simple as just walking when she wasn’t alone. Namjoo made a stern face and tried to tell Chorong to wait a moment before she turned back to Chanyeol. She felt kind of bad for breaking up the conversation, but there was no other choice.

“I…I’ll be back,” Namjoo tapped Chanyeol’s shoulder before pulling out of his hand and turned around to run toward the restaurant building.

“I knew it was you!” Chorong scolded when Namjoo ran over. “Who is that you’re with?”

Namjoo pushed Chorong away and stepped aside to make sure they were out of sight. “It wouldn’t even take a wild guess to know.”

Chorong frowned before asking, “Chanyeol?” When Namjoo didn’t reply Chorong let out a baffled laugh. “Ah! Just great!”

Thunder roared and a flash of lightning struck the sky shutting the two of them up for a second.

“Whoa…what was that?” Chorong asked. “I have my powers? And I have thunder?” Then she turned to her younger sister. “Do you have your powers?”

Namjoo blinked her eyes and held out her hand to summon a fireball, but nothing came.

“I don’t have them.”

“What?” Chorong gasped. “No, that can’t be. Why don’t you have yours when I have mine?”

Namjoo felt her mind quickly spin before she felt sick again. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

“Why? Why? What’s wrong!?” Chorong asked worried.  

Namjoo shook her head suddenly not in the mood to talk.

“Don’t, you can’t throw up now,” Chorong deepened her tone before Namjoo ran around the back of the restaurant before bending over to let it out. “Ew…are you ok?”

“Not so much when I have a kid, and another one coming,” Namjoo mumbled.

“You’re pregnant!?” Chorong screamed and a few passersby turned to stare. Namjoo slightly shoved her shoulder to remind her to keep quiet. Chorong let out a sigh and summarized, “You’re married with Chanyeol and I’m getting married.”

“Married?!” Namjoo repeated shocked.

“To make things worse, I have an annoying maid.”

Namjoo rolled her eyes, “What the hell’s going on? This is a dream, right? This has got to be a dream, because I’m sure this has got to be a dream.”

“Really? This feels pretty realistic to me. You don’t think we’ve been sent back to the 17^th century, do you?”

Namjoo growled wiping her lips. “How the hell do we get out of here, because I want to end this now!”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know how we ended here,” Chorong muttered. “Lets meet up somewhere later and try to figure out something. I have to return to the household before chaos strikes and you should head back before Chanyeol starts looking for you.”

Namjoo made a face of complaint before Chorong patted her tummy.

“And take care of my past…nephew or niece,” Chorong whispered before turning around and slightly paused when Chanyeol appeared around the corner. Chorong turned back and whispered, “The woods nearby,” before trotting off.

Namjoo watched her leave before Chanyeol started toward her. “You two know each other?” She only forced a smile in reply before Chanyeol took her hand again. “Come on, lets go.”

>_____<;;

“Great,” Victoria mumbled. She stopped pacing and turned to look at Changmin and the man who was struggling to fix the engine. “How long is it going to take?”

“Just a little more,” the auto shop man said.

Victoria hung her head back and groaned again before resuming to pacing. Almost a mere hour had passed and nothing had been done to Changmin’s failure of a car. There was no way she would ever ride in that thing again, she swore.

Bored, Victoria tried calling Chorong and Namjoo again. As usual, no one picked up.

“Is something bad happening at home?” Changmin walked over. “I can call and have an officer go check up on them.”

“No,” Victoria shot him a sidelong glare.

“Ok,” Changmin slightly backed off. “You don’t have to act so scary, you know. I would be worried if I left my siblings alone, but it can’t be helped right now. Didn’t we talk about how there’s a reason behind everything earlier?”

“If you were me you wouldn’t be so calm when…” Victoria began raising her voice, but suddenly quieted and turned to look around the darkness surrounding them.

Of course, that was it. Even when there was light around, the things that had attacked her earlier could have followed. They didn’t need dark. It was nighttime; their time. Then she turned to look at Changmin’s car.

The second her heart started racing she knew it. Those things were stopping her from returning home. 

***They're definitely back in the past, but Namjoo is without powers :O There's a reason for that. And LOL at Chorong's escape xD

***So now Vic knows why she's trapped in the middle of nowhere!