>_____<;;

Chorong’s biggest worry was what to do in order to get out of this time era. She didn’t belong there. There was no way of finding out how she’d gotten there either…unless something had happened on the other side. Chorong felt her eyebrows deepen in thought while the petty maid fussed with her wedding outfit.

Yes, something must have happened on the other side. This was a dream…an all too real one, which caused her more suspicion. How could a dream feel so real? How was everything moving along as if there were days and nights in her dream? That never happened in dreams, it just didn’t…or had they gone to sleep and somehow been sent back to the past? That was possible too…

“Where did you go? How could you leave like that!?” the maid gently scolded her again in that tone that Chorong so heavily hated.

“Done, good?” Chorong asked spinning around in the red silk dress for the maid to look.

“Ah…you’re so stunningly beautiful!” the maid complimented before adjusting the coat around her shoulders. “Isn’t your husband going to be so happy…”

Chorong shot the maid a curious stare before alas she was led out of the house and into the little boxed carriage outside. She’d always wondered how it was to ride in one. Even though the space was limited it was somewhat comfy with the little cloth carpet inside. She let out a clumsy shout and reached out in an effort to grab the walls when the men lifted the carriage up.

“Oh…gosh…this is freaky,” Chorong said to herself before she heard footsteps and the front gates opening.

So she was going to get married…but she wouldn’t be there to experience it, thank god. She would come up with something along the way…like create a storm or have lightning strike the road or something. Chorong eased her breathing and slid the tiny side window open. They were just embarking onto the road and would probably take another 15 more minutes to arrive her husband’s house where the wedding would start.

She hoped things were going well on Namjoo’s side and suddenly wondered where Victoria was.

>_____<;;

“Where are you going?” Changmin asked when Victoria took a step into the dark street.

“Wait here,” Victoria ordered before walking away from the light.

She’d never stepped off the highway before. Never had she been so gutsy in her life, but there was no time to stand back and wait. The engine had been killed when Changmin had taken it to the body shop for a checkup. That was just all too weird that it would break down now…tonight. 

“I know you’re there,” Victoria said in a quiet voice. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

And she almost regretted saying it when something zipped in front of her with a high squeaky whisper. With arms up in front of her face for defense she peered around and suddenly thought the billboard which had been well lit up earlier had now suddenly darkened. Her heart thudded against her rib cage so fast that she couldn’t hear Changmin shouting behind her.

These things zipped in front of her again taunting her with their whispery screams. There were two, then six, and they quickly multiplied into a crowd of shadows surrounding her into a box. They were moving at such speed that Victoria couldn’t see how many there were anymore. Just dark, dark shadows…if that was what they were. But they didn’t seem like the ones that had been in the house a few days before.  

“No, no, fight this,” Victoria whispered to herself, but shut her eyes when one of them leaned forward to continue taunting her.  

Gripping her hands into fists she squinted her eyes and watched as a few of them flew through the air. Suddenly her racing heart started to ease and she did it again.

“Leave me alone or you’re going to be sorry,” Victoria centered her energy around the anger residing in her heart before they started flying off one by one, their crying whispery shrieks dissolving in midair.

“What are you doing!?” Changmin shouted when he grabbed her arm to twist her around.

And Victoria finally realized she was breathing really heavily. She glanced at him before turning to look into the darkness that was now just nothing but trees.

“I got it! It’s working!” the auto shop man shouted from the distance.

Victoria and Changmin turned to look at each other, but she had the last say. “Lets go. I’m tired of being here.”

>_____<;;

Namjoo was observing the sketches in their room running her eyes over each fine line of each one. Chanyeol was definitely something, she decided. Then she turned to glance at the closed doors of their room.

Chorong had said to meet at the woods nearby, before Namjoo decided she had been talking about the woods close to the market. They definitely needed to get out of this dream – era, or whatever it was.

But Namjo had eyes watching. Chanyeol’s mother, their son, and Chanyeol himself. She didn’t feel right leaving without a word. They would look for her…their son would cry for the mother who left…and Namjoo knew how it felt to lose a mom at such a young age. But it wasn’t this body that was leaving, it was just she – present Namjoo.

When Namjoo pushed one of the doors open she stopped when a piece of paper fell off the wall and landed on the floor with a light sound. Namjoo turned to look at the fallen paper before moving back into the room to put it back up. However, when she picked the piece of paper up she saw that it was a drawing of an angel flying high into the sky where the sun was brightly burning. The hues and the rays Chanyeol had drawn with much talent caught her eyes. Without much thought Namjoo started to put the paper back on the wall before she caught sight of something on the back.

A sharp pain stabbed at her heart when she saw what had been drawn. It hurt and the pain overwhelmingly made her heart throb as if it had been hurting all along. Tears welled up in her eyes for no reason she understood while staring at whom she knew to be her guardian angel. Namjoo quickly pinned the sketch onto the wall and walked out. There was no time to be dwelling on what was going on or why her heart hurt so much. She didn’t have time, but she wanted to know.

Namjoo literally almost bumped into Chanyeol on her way out.

“Where are you going? I thought you were lying down,” he said when she turned toward the yard.

“I…have to go somewhere,” Namjoo turned around to look at him.

“Where are you going?”

Namjoo couldn’t tell him about Chorong since it seemed like they weren’t supposed to know each other. She pressed her lips together before telling him, “I need to go fix something.”

“Don’t go…” he sounded desperate as if he’d feared this day would come.

A slight frown marked her face and she wondered what he was talking about. Maybe something was going on…

“Don’t leave me.”

Namjoo almost took a step back, but realized it could be the worst possible move for the Namjoo in this era. And it felt like her heart was being split in half. Part of her hurting for her husband, the other part hurting for the man sketched out on paper.

“I’ll come back,” the words came through. “I will come back.”

His face conflicted with sadness before he pulled her into a tight hug, “Promise.”

Once he let go she turned to walk through the gates. Questions slurred her mind. Something had happened, something very bad had happened before she arrived into this body.

>_____<;;

Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, Chorong needed a big storm. She was desperate. A long 8 minutes had already passed and there wasn’t much time left before her hand would be given away to who she thought was an old man she was going to marry. Crossing her hands together she closed her eyes and prayed for the weather to turn worse.

When those outside began murmuring Chorong felt the carriage changing direction before it was lowered onto the ground. Someone knocked on the side of the carriage before she slid the window open.

“Young Miss, there’s a storm coming. We may have to stop here for a while,” her petty maid informed.  

“Let me out.” Chorong ordered.

“But you can’t…”

“I said let me out,” Chorong forced herself to sound angry before the front door was lifted up and she made her way out.

The men were taking shelter from the pouring rain under the straw roof of some building. Chorong felt the wind swish by violently before she stared up at the dark gray clouds overhead.

“Wow…” she commented, “I’ve created a storm.”

“Young Miss,” the petty maid turned to her, “you should get back into the carriage. You’ll be warmer. It’s cold out here.”

Chorong shot the carriage a glance before saying, “I need to use the bathroom. Where’s the bathroom?”

The petty maid stared at her before leading her out back. Chorong glanced at her before getting into the outhouse and stood with her nose plugged. Obviously toilets, she suddenly thought, were the greatest invention of all time. She couldn’t stand this smell and suddenly thought she would throw up for sure.

“Are you going to keep standing out there!?” Chorong raised her voice when she saw the petty maid’s dress from the bottom of the straw door.

“But Young Miss…”

“Leave!”

The petty maid stood around for a few seconds before she walked away. After a few seconds Chorong leaned forward to make sure she had really left before she pushed the door open and darted into the street away from the crew. Who cared about the wedding when she wanted the comfort of jeans, shirts, and toilets?!

As expected, she made a few mistakes with her directions before she finally came upon the woods she’d told Namjoo about a while ago. Her younger sister was hiding underneath a large pine tree helplessly hiding from the rain.

“Where the hell did this rain come from!?” Namjoo shouted. “I have a baby to protect!”

“Sorry,” Chorong whined before sliding in with her. “I think I made it a lot worse than it should have been.”

“You what!?” Namjoo shouted. “You did this!?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Namjoo turned away to groan. “Make it go away. I’ve been freezing while waiting for you!”

“Just…give me a moment,” Chorong convinced before clasping her hands together in front of her and thought about calm weather. A few seconds transitioned by before calm and peace magically returned. “Wow…I’m something, aren’t I?”

Namjoo stepped out of their hiding and swept at her wet hair. “Lets…just leave. I don’t want to stay here anymore.”

Chorong eyed her sister. “Why? Did something happen?”

“I don’t know,” Namjoo’s voice weakly shook before shocking Chorong with the tears that swept down as if they held no weight at all.

“Whoa…calm down. Maybe it’s just your hormones acting up,” Chorong tried.

“No,” she shook her head. “I can’t stop them. It’s not…these aren’t my tears.”

But Namjoo still wept as if it was really her who was weeping. She looked…really tragic.

“I saw a picture of him…and I…her heart just started hurting so much,” Namjoo cried. “It’s so painful…I don’t want this.”

“What? I don’t get it. Whose picture?”

“Luhan.”

Chorong felt her lips fall apart. Namjoo suddenly dropped onto her knees and dug her fingers into the dirt as if it would ease the pain in her heart. Her loud sobs made Chorong’s heart ache and she felt as if the pain was getting to her too. But they had a mission at hand.

“Namjoo, get up. We have to find a way to leave this place,” Chorong grabbed onto Namjoo’s arm to hoist her up, but she wasn’t cooperating. “Get a hold of yourself!”

Something flashed from Namjoo’s body before her head lolled against Chorong’s shoulder and she quieted.

“Namjoo?” Chorong lifted her off her shoulder. “Yah! Wake up! Oh no…oh no…Namjoo!”

>_____<;;

“Can you drive any faster?” Victoria asked.

“Speed limit. Even someone like me has to follow the laws,” Changmin spoke.

Victoria groaned underneath her breath. She should have taken the wheel. She should have taken the wheel! A very bad feeling was lurking up on her.

>_____<;;

Namjoo was in trouble. He could feel it, but it was hard getting into the house as if some shield had been brought up to prevent any unwanted visitors. Luhan couldn’t trudge pass the invisible wall to where he would be able to see Namjoo and aid her if needed. No, this couldn’t be happening. His heart began to grow frantic.

They’d promised him. They’d promised to give him one lifetime. They couldn’t take it away from him like this.

Luhan felt like his heart was being torn again. It wasn’t fair…it wasn’t fair!

“Namjoo!” he screamed with all the sorrow drowning in his heart before the invisible wall suddenly melted and his hand went through.   

Luhan frowned. He was confused, but he didn’t care. He just needed to get to the other side. And when he arrived in the recognizable room he spotted a man leaning over Namjoo, his hands hovering on either side of her head creating a white glow. Namjoo was trapped…

“Get away from her!” Luhan shouted.

As soon as the Dream Weaver turned around the white glow disappeared.

“Not her, anyone, but her,” Luhan muttered before the white orb appeared in his hand.

“You weren’t supposed to come,” the Dream Weaver monotonously stated with flat eyes.

“What time did you send her to?” Luhan questioned. When the Dream Weaver didn’t answer he raised his voice, “Answer me!”

Luhan felt his lips tremble from severe anger. The Dream Weaver stared back at him with a mischievous smile before he disappeared. The white orb immediately dissolved from his hand and he rushed forward to climb onto the bed lifting her into his arms.

“No, no,” he cried, “Namjoo, wake up. You have to wake up.”

And then his heart began to race even harder when tears sprouted out of her closed lids. It wasn’t supposed to happen, not during this lifetime. He didn’t want her to see it.

“Namjoo, wake up. Can you hear me?” he begged. “Wake up.”

He traced his hand over her face to dry the oncoming tears, which freaked him out even more. She wasn’t supposed to go there. Luhan had wanted her happy; he wanted her to stay that way. This one chance wasn’t supposed to go to waste like this.

His heart broke when he saw that the tears weren’t stopping. Which part in time had she been sent to?

He’d waited so long just to appear and the last thing on his wish list was for Namjoo to confront him. Luhan didn’t want to meet the person who knew everything. He didn’t want to think about how things would progress if she knew…

“Namjoo, listen to me,” Luhan said, “you have to wake up before it happens. Don’t go there, please don’t go there.”

“Go where?”

Luhan spun around with a look of death on his face. Victoria was standing in the doorway staring at him. 

***Uh-oh, seeing Luhan brings past Namjoo a lot of pain. Something big happened to them in the Joseon Dynasty before Chanyeol came along. 

***And finally, Luhan comes to the rescue, but Victoria catches the most suspicious part of it!

***Hahaha! And Chorong's Earth powers are revealed, but the present her doesn't have them yet!