(This chapter contains a lot of ancient Korean history. I will be putting the background info in the footnotes ^^)

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When Baekhyun slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he was aware of was faint chirping sounds and the low hum of a bubbling creek.

Ahh, it’s good to be back here…

He got up to his feet and rubbed his eyes blearily. The sun was high in the sky – it must have been somewhere in the early afternoon. Baekhyun flexed his body, yawning loudly and brushing stray grass from his shirt and pants.

He froze.

Clothes! “Urgh…” Baekhyun smacked his head in exasperation. What is wrong with me, seriously?

Sighing, he decided to make do with his clothes and hope that he could find a spare hanbok set somewhere. It was around then he discovered he had no place to keep the teleportation device – he was completely empty-handed.

“Arghhhh!!”

 

 

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Balhae, in certain aspects, was exactly the same as how Baekhyun remembered it. However, there was this slight difference, a change of tension in the air that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Are there more guards around the Palace border?

This is going to be a problem.

Baekhyun glanced down at his modern outfit, and the strange teleportation device in his hand. I need to hide this somewhere. He squinted into the distance, and could make out a field of some sort. Field…

 

“Halmeo-nim, a very good day to you.” Baekhyun bowed as respectfully as he could at a wizened old farmer lady sowing seeds in the tilled ground.

She barely glanced at him. “Who are you?”

“Me?” Baekhyun wrecked his brains, trying to think of something. “I am a traveller from far away. I have arrived to this place, full of lush greenery and picturesque-”

“Who are you?”

Baekhyun cleared his throat. “My name is Baek Hyun and-”

Her eyes shot up immediately. “You are a descendant from Baekje?”

Baekhyun blinked. Baekje? Where is that? Did she hear wrongly? Should I just agree? He figured that he should just take the risk. “Yes I am, halmeo-nim.”

“Ahhhhhhhh…” She nodded slowly, and started slapping her knee while cackling in a strange witch-like way.

Umm… Baekhyun shifted from foot to foot as he scanned his surroundings for any place where he could hide the device. Then he noticed a small old barrel at the corner of the field.

“Halmeo-nim! Could I borrow that wooden barrel?” He pointed at it across the field. The old lady followed his gaze, and clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“You come all this way here to take my barrel? Come, listen to me first, young man.” She patted the soil with her wrinkled hand with surprising force. Baekhyun swallowed nervously, running a hand through his hair.

He gave in, in the end. “It was such a pity Baekje fell to Silla… My ancestors were from Baekje too. It has been almost 300 years…” She shook her head sadly. “Hubaekje has never been as powerful as Baekje had been. King Gyeon Hwon is just an airheaded ole’ pumpkin!” She started laughing again, much louder than before, that even the cattle grazing in the pasture nearby reared back in shock.

This is one weird woman… Baekhyun struggled to think of a plan to ditch her and escape to find Jongdae.

“Halmeo-nim! After my travels, I intend to head back to my home town. But alas, my clothing have gotten completely damaged while I was fighting the grizzly bears and escaping from the wild boars up in the mountains…” Baekhyun sighed dramatically. “All I have left is this measly strange outfit.” He gestured to himself, after making sure the teleportation device was safely hidden behind his back. “Knowing my respected father, he would reprimand me harshly for being so careless… As a fellow Baekje descendant, would you help me out by lending me a set of traditional Baekje hanbok? Hmm?”

 

The lady gave in, in the end, and Baekhyun got both the hanbok and the barrel.

 

 

 

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It is almost autumn… soon.

Slipping his hands behind his back, the Crown Prince tilted his face towards the vast sky. It was a clear afternoon, the sun rays warm against his skin, a gentle breeze drifting scents of citrus, chamomile and lavender from the gardens nearby.

“Wang seja-nim, you are requested by His Majesty in the Royal study.”

He turned at the sound of the voice. Standing a little way back was the King’s subordinate, in a stiff bowed position. The man was a stout, middle-aged scholar who was entrusted by the King himself to guide him and teach him diplomatic knowledge and leadership of the kingdom. It had been this way for 2 years already. Ever since…

“What is it about?”

“He wants to speak to you about Wang sejabin.”

Not that again. He hated to talk to the King about her, that even though it has been almost 2 years since they were officially wed, the King was still trying to find fault in him about his attitude towards her.

No matter how many times he had stressed to His Majesty that it was purely a political marriage.

It was irritating. It made him think about that day, in the distant past, when he wished that he could escape from this political betrothal, and live his own life. And that day, when his wish came true.

Even if it was but for a fleeting moment.

“I will go.”

With a tired sigh, the Crown Prince shoved away those memories to a corner of his mind, and headed over to the Royal building with a heavy heart.

Because no matter how he tried, he still couldn’t forget.

 

 

 

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Penetrating into the Palace was way harder than expected. Aside from the fact that there were more guards around, it seemed like they were more alert as well. Baekhyun scanned the Palace grounds from the distance and sighed in exasperation. Now what should I do?

Suddenly from a distance, he heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching him. Alarmed, he dived behind a bush to wait. The sounds came nearer… and nearer… and then it stopped abruptly.

Baekhyun swallowed thickly, unable to breathe. What? Is it me? Have they discovered me? Oh drats what do I do? Oh my god-

“What is happening??”

Baekhyun heard a voice ring out, crisp and firm. He involuntary flinched, causing a twig to snap underneath him. What? Are you an idiot?! He cringed, awaiting his imminent death…-

“Wang Seje-nim, the horses refuse to move.”

Wang Seje-nim?? Isn’t that the Royal Prince? Baekhyun allowed himself to peek from his hiding spot, and he realised that the horses have, in fact, not stopped in front of his hiding spot, but somewhere further ahead. He heaved a sigh of relief.

“And why are they not moving?” The speaker was once again brought into Baekhyun’s attention. He peered a little further out and caught sight of an elaborate horse carriage, something that looked like it came out of an ancient Korean Palace… Wait a minute, it did come out of an ancient Korean Palace.

“I-I am not sure, my Lord…”

“Then whip them until their skin turns raw!” He bellowed out angrily. “I have to see the Queen Dowager immediately, we have no time to waste!”

Whip? Raw? Who does he think he is?! That’s animal cruelty! Baekhyun couldn’t help but spring out of his hiding spot, while smoothening down the hanbok. In the process, he didn’t notice the rock in front of him, tripped rather unglamorously and fell straight into the arms of a guard.

Who stared down at him rather interestingly.

Huang Zitao?!

 

Zitao let out what seemed like an amused huff, and flung him off his chest, sending Baekhyun flying towards the ground and landing on his .

The Prince stuck his head out of the carriage in annoyance. “Just what on Earth is happening there?”

Baekhyun got up hastily, bowing as deep as he could without toppling over. “Your Royal Highness, please do not whip the horses!”

“What?”

When he looked up again, all the guards were staring at him incredulously, including the Prince which Baekhyun could only assume to be Dae Gwang Hyeon. His resemblance to his brother was so strong, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down his spine.

“Ahh! Your Royal Highness, I am but a lowly commoner…” he could almost feel Huang Zitao raising his eyebrows beside him, “but I am an expert at looking after horses! I can tell that your horses do not deserve to be whipped!”

If Luhan knew about this, he would be in tears. Baekhyun knew about horses as much as he knew about the penguins in the North Pole. Which practically translates to, nothing. Splendid acting, Byun Baekhyun.

Gwang hyeon bristled in irritation. He’s probably not used to people talking back to him, Baekhyun thought with a small smirk. Well, that’s probably why you never did become the King, you heartless punk!

 “No one, not even the horses, are allowed to disobey me.” Gwang Hyeon snapped. “And that includes you!”

“Me?” Baekhyun jabbed his chest in disbelief. He immediately wanted to punch himself in the face for doing that, because Gwang Hyeon’s face grew several shades redder afterwards.

“Guards! Capture him!” He commanded, and Baekhyun found himself squeezed to the bone by two towering guards that seemed like they had bodies made of steel. “Lock him up!”

Lock?!

No!!

Baekhyun tried, in vain attempt, to wriggle away from the guards’ unbreakable grip. He gave up eventually, slumping down in defeat.

If I get captured and locked up, how am I going to get to Jongdae?

 

But as he got dragged along towards the Palace, another fleeting thought passed through his mind.

But at least I’m going to enter the Palace now. That’s one obstacle down!

 

 

 

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Luhan turned to Minseok and Yifan, who were sitting on the couch watching television like two dead zombies.

He glanced at the clock. Half an hour had past, and Baekhyun hadn’t returned. He was starting to worry.

“What if Baekhyun really did choose the wrong year?” He muttered, anxiety increasing with every tick of the clock.

Yifan gave him a dead look. “He would just come back, for sure. So sit down and stop pacing around.”

Luhan sighed painfully, but obliged, slumping down on the couch between the two dazed men. The coffee table started buzzing incessantly, and a familiar Taylor Swift song pierced through the air.

He leant over and picked up Baekhyun’s handphone, studying the name of the caller. ‘My Dear Channie Smartypants’, it read. Luhan couldn’t help but let out a snort at the ridiculous name.

“Hello, this is Baekhyun’s handphone.”

“I know…” the speaker from the other end sighed. “This is Chanyeol. When Baekhyun returns, ask him to call me back.” Before Luhan could let out another word, Chanyeol hung up.

Hmm, that’s weird… Luhan didn’t remember Chanyeol being so solemn like that. He always seemed bouncy and energetic. Did something happen…?

He decided to worry about that later, and went back to staring at the clock and staring at the two zombies flanking him left and right, and slowly panicking his sanity away.

 

 

 

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The Palace jail was not a nice place indeed. It was hot, smelly and very very dirty. Baekhyun recoiled in horror at the thought of even being in there for more than five minutes. I’ve just entered and I feel like I’m going to die!

That Dae Gwang Hyeon punk, don’t think just because you look like Jongdae, you can get away with this!

 “Officer Huang, please bring him to his cell,” one of the huge burly Guards instructed someone behind him. To his astonishment, Zitao stepped up and grabbed his elbow, leading him into the jail.

 

And then it was just the two of them. The Jail was sparsely occupied, with most of the inmates just lazing around or sleeping, paying no heed to them. Baekhyun threw a couple of nervous glances at the tall guard guiding him, but they weren’t returned even once.

After a minute of walking in silence, Zitao finally spoke.

“Lowly commoner, you say?”

“Huh?” Baekhyun blurted, and kicked himself mentally again. “W-what do you mean, Officer?”

“I clearly remember that a certain someone was a respected General from Khitan.”

Baekhyun blinked a couple of times, and then it dawned on him. Ahh… I did lie to the Palace Guards that I was from the Khitan empire back during my first visit here…

“But I can understand why you lied to Wang seje-nim about being a commoner. It is better than being a Khitan General, in this situation.”

What did he mean by that? Baekhyun felt extremely puzzled by his words. If he remembered correctly, during his first visit to Balhae, he was warmly welcomed into the Palace when he said he was a Khitan. But why now, it was wiser to say that he wasn’t?

Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut and tried to remember his History. Balhae fell to the Khitans in 926, didn’t they? That’s more than 10 years away! So why…?

Or maybe they had a premonition?

Huang Zitao stopped in front of a vacant cell, and his hand fell onto the metal lock. However, he didn’t open it straightaway.

“Byun Baekhyun… am I right?”

“Yes!” Baekhyun felt a little honoured that Zitao remembered his name. Then again, it hasn’t been very long, anyway…

“I… It has been a couple of years, but I still remember how you gave me a little taste of freedom. And that odd kimchi ppang… I can never forget that queer taste.”

Couple of years? What is Zitao talking about? Baekhyun grew increasingly uncomfortable. Besides, he didn’t remember Zitao having the rank of an Official Guard – isn’t he supposed to be just an ordinary Palace Guard?

“So…” Zitao continued, heaving a deep, determined breath. “As a friend, I will let you go.”

Baekhyun halted his disconcerting thoughts for a moment as he processed Zitao’s last statement. And when it finally got through to his head, he let out an unmanly squeal and pulled Zitao into a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you so muchmmmpphh-” Baekhyun got his words muffled by Zitao’s large hand and a death glare which could frizzle sausages instantly on a stove.

“Can you keep it down? Do you want to get caught?”

Baekhyun shook his head so hard that he almost saw stars.

Zitao let go of him, pushing him towards a small door at the back. “Go, it is not locked. But I hope you do not stay here for too long, you might get rediscovered.”

Baekhyun nodded eagerly and turned to make his leave. Then he stopped, and turned back to the guard.

“Can you tell me where can I find Dae Jong Kim?”

 

 

 

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It was a highly nerve-wrecking journey full of nauseating bumps and dramatic suspense, but nevertheless Baekhyun managed to make it to the Royal headquarters relatively uneventfully.

He heard a knock against the wall of the chest. “Sir, you may come out now.”

Baekhyun wanted to scream and rejoice in happiness and give thanks to every deity in existence. Because if there was anything he didn’t want to see, or touch, or smell again, it would be this horrible claustrophobic musty chest.

He climbed out rather ungracefully, stretching his stiff limbs and ruffling up his flattened hair. Baekhyun found himself in a small room filled with other chests similar to the one he was transported in. He suppressed a shudder, and turned to the servant who brought him here.

“Thank you so much for your help.”

The servant bowed in return. “It is nothing, sir. I was just following Officer Huang’s orders.”

Baekhyun leant closer. “So, Prince Dae Jong Kim is in the vicinity?”

“He is having a meeting now with His Majesty the King in the Royal Study.”

Meeting with the King? He meant Dae In-seon, right? Wow… Baekhyun couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see a real ancient King in real life. I wonder if he looks anything like Im Ho who played the King’s role in Dae Jang Geum?

“Thank you, you may go now,” he instructed the servant, who bowed again and quickly exited the room.

Baekhyun decided that it was probably not wise to find the Crown Prince yet, so he decided to linger around a bit (and stay out of the Guards’ way) and explore the area. He was already done with his final year essay, but it didn’t hurt to look around a little more and see if there was anything to add in his report for an extra mark boost.

After exiting the room, Baekhyun found himself in a long empty corridor. He heard muffled voices coming from one of the chambers, and being the nosy person he was, he decided to eavesdrop a little.

“… This is not acceptable, there will be a royal Banquet in 3 days time, is this how you are going to behave?!”

There was silence after that. Ooh nice, that dude’s a rebel, Baekhyun thought with a chuckle. He snuck over to a corner where there were large cartons stacked up together, and waited for the conversation to continue.

“Answer me!”

“No, Your Majesty.” The voice was somewhat familiar, and it made Baekhyun’s stomach do a dangerous flop. It sounded familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.

Then the authoritative voice spoke again, but it was lowered to a great extent. Baekhyun huffed in agitation, pushing against the cartons furtively to get a better listen.

And suddenly, he felt himself tumbling.

 

 

If there was such thing as a flashback to all the events that had happened in your life right before you die, Baekhyun sure as heck felt like he needed one of that right then.

Because what he hadn’t realised was that the stack of cartons were actually there to block a side entrance to a Royal chamber.

Which happened to be the Royal Study.

Which happened to be where a very important meeting was taking place.

Between the last Balhae King, Dae In-seon, and the Crown Prince, Dae Jong Kim.

 

And Baekhyun, being the world’s most clumsy and scatter-brained idiot, had just burst into it unknowingly, revealing himself in the most undignified way possible.

 

He looked up, at the two members of the Royal family, and gawked.

Dae Inseon didn’t flinch. He didn’t even look angry. In fact, he looked almost amused.

“Young man, how did you discover my secret entrance?”

“S-secret entrance?” The Crown Prince spoke, never taking his eyes off the tangle of limbs on the floor.

Baekhyun’s heart flew to outer space at the sight of him. Jongdae was dressed in a gorgeous hanbok, vibrant blues and reds that flowed down his slim frame. But the look on Jongdae’s face was nothing short of horrified and disgusted.

Jongdae? Does he not recognize me?

“Yes indeed,” The King chuckled heartily, his mood a completely reversal from what it seemed to have been a few moments ago. “No one has discovered it before. I am surprised.”

“S-sorry, Your Highness, I-I will t-take my l-leave inst-stantly…” Baekhyun stammered badly, his face turning a brilliant crimson as he struggled to pick himself up from among the cartons.

As he turned to leave, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Wait. I would like to have a word with you. Your Majesty, we shall continue this conversation- or maybe, we should just end it right here.”

Baekhyun suddenly felt himself manhandled towards the front entrance by a very firm death-like grip. As he passed the King, he did a hasty bow and didn’t miss the entertained chuckle that he received in response. Wow, I think I like this King already.

 

 

Baekhyun was dragged to the nearby room, shoved inside, and then the sliding screen door was pulled firmly shut.

There was complete silence for a while. Baekhyun dared not turn around to face the Crown Prince. His heart felt like it was overworking itself to his death.

“Why… are you here?” Jongdae’s voice was shaky, a complete difference to the firm voice from earlier in the Study.

Baekhyun turned to look at him, and up close, he noticed that Jongdae, despite looking as beautiful as before, now looked very much more tired and weary. There were eye bags that weren’t present before, and stress lines along the sides of his face. He almost looked… older.

“I asked you a question. Why are you here?”

Baekhyun swallowed, wetting his lips nervously. Then he remembered that this is Jongdae, the Jongdae that he fell in love with, the Jongdae that went through so much with him in the 21^st century. He was that Jongdae.

“Jongdae-ya, sorry, let’s just go home, hmm?” He stepped closer, taking Jongdae’s hands in his own.

What he didn’t expect was the Crown Prince to push him away roughly, a look of mixed annoyance and anger flashing through his eyes.

“What did you say? Are you insane?!”

What? Baekhyun’s eyes widened in shock. What’s happening?

Jongdae was glaring at him bitterly, mouth curled into a tight frown. “You- you- you come all the way here just to tell me that?”

The Crown Prince closed in on him, grabbing the front of his hanbok roughly. Baekhyun felt chills running down his spine – something was not right at all.

“Do you think this is a big joke? Do you think you can play around with me like that? Who do you think you are?”

“Jongdae, I-”

“Do you think that appearing without warning after two years and then trying to drag me back into your life is the best you could do, Byun Baek Hyun-sshi?!”

Two years?! Baekhyun felt his blood run cold.

“Wait, what year is this?”

Jongdae scoffed in disbelief. “You mean you do not know? This is 910, and it has been two years since I last saw your face!”

 

I… I got the wrong year?!

Now everything seemed to fall into place – the difference in the level of protection in the Palace, Huang Zitao having a higher rank, it being a couple of years since they met… Everything made sense.

 

Jongdae rolled his eyes at Baekhyun’s stumped expression. “Again you were too rash, am I right?” He folded his arms across his chest angrily. “You never do learn from your lesson, do you? Always acting on impulse, always thinking you are so smart.”

Jongdae’s stern expression faltered a little, and he turned away to face the wall. “But do not bother going back to 908 to get me. In fact, do not bother even coming back at any time period at all. My country needs me, and I belong here – I definitely will NOT go back with you, Byun Baek Hyun-sshi.”

 

With that, the Crown Prince stalked out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

 

Baekhyun felt his legs give way, and he slumped to the ground, burying his face into his hands helplessly.

 

What have I done??

 

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Oh my god I think I went overboard with the ancient Korean stuff. But I was researching about Balhae and one thing led to another and I ended up reading about the entire Korean history up till the Joseon era. O_o

It’s really fascinating, actually. Well although this is a fictional story, I tried to follow the real facts as closely as possible. Like how Gwang Hyeon really never became the King – he was the Crown Prince when Balhae fell to the Khitan empire. And like how Gyeon Hwon is the King of the failed Hubaekje. But some things are not true, like the part about Gwang Hyeon being cruel to animals LOL.

My passion for writing this story has been re-ignited, so expect the chapters to be coming at a faster rate than before ^^ and to make up for my prolonged absence, I will make them extra long. This chapter is ~3.8K words long, which is not bad in my opinion. Haha :D

PS: To the people who guessed Baek went to the wrong year... Congrats! xD you guys are so smart ^^

Baekchen is my happy pill ^.^ 

 

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Background Information:

 

Keywords:

Halmeo-nim: formal way of saying ‘Grandmother’

Wang seja-nim: formal way of saying ‘Crown Prince’

Wang sejabin: formal way of saying ‘Crown Princess’

Wang seje-nim: formal way of saying ‘Royal Prince’ (just ordinary prince, the brother of crown prince)

 

Characters (real):

Gyeon Hwon: ruler of Hubaekje. He was a good diplomat but was never popular due of his inability to connect with the people.

Dae Gwang Hyeon: the real last Crown Prince of Balhae. In this story, he is the second son of the King, and apparently a ruthless person.

Dae In Seon: the last King of Balhae

Im Ho: the actor who played the King in the famous Korean period drama ‘Dae Jang Geum’

 

Characters (fictional):

Huang Zitao: an Official Guard, promoted from regular Palace Guard

Soo young: Crown Princess, married to the Crown Prince

 

Places:

Balhae: largely North-Korean empire that reigned from 698 to 926 AD, eventually defeated by the Khitans.

Baekje: one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea (others being Silla and Goryeo). Fell to Silla in 660 AD

Hubaekje (or Later Baekje): Established by Gyeon Hwon in 892 AD, but was never seen as reputable due to the many troubles they faced during their reign.

Khitan Empire (Liao Dynasty): East Asian empire that overthrew the Kingdom of Balhae in 926 AD