Sheet 6

Sound Advice

          Prince Woo Hyun taps his foot impatiently. Where did that friend of his go? It’s been five minutes and he hasn’t returned yet. Did he by any chance gotten lost around the castle? But that’s not possible. His friend has been in the castle for quite some time now, he knows his way around like the back of his hand.

          They need to talk about how they could save Princess Mi Joo. He believes both of them know how. He’s been running around trying to find her in his dreams. But it never leads to anything. They’re his last hope.

          The door to the library opens suddenly revealing his friend though without the girl. “What happened? Where is Lady Soo Jung?”

          “I needed her to go back, do some research…  Promise, I’ll help you find the princess, didn’t I? We just need more information of her whereabouts…”

          “Will she be able to do it while in your world? Would you be going back there too?”

          “Yes… Don’t worry, I‘ll be back with a plan…”

          “So I guess we wouldn’t be having tea… again…”

          “Ah, man… Why are you being so clingy all of a sudden? You’re obsessed with drinking tea… We’ll do it properly once you’re reunited with the princess…”

          The prince has no one else to trust. Everybody in the palace feels that everything is hopeless. They can’t track where the princess is. He’s desperate to find her.

          “We’ll find a way… In the meantime, try remembering your dreams. You can’t just be running around in a tunnel and heading nowhere…”

          Prince Woo Hyun sighs. The dreams have to be telling him something. Princess Mi Joo might be sending a message and he hasn’t caught on. “I will… Have a safe journey back…”

          His friend exits the library with a wave. Maybe it’s about time he joins his Father at dinner. He just needs to evade further discussions of marriage to other eligible princesses.

~0~

          Lee Soo Jung wakes up with a jolt. Her head hurts and her body feels heavy. The music box lay next to her, the tiny closet doors, closed. The eerie music no longer playing.

          She shakes her head remembering, the earlier event is still fresh on her mind. Did it really happen? Or did she dream it? It looks like she’s been sleeping. Did she faint in the middle of work? She looks at her watch, its half past six in the evening. She’s been asleep for thirty minutes. But it felt like an entire day. She stands up and rights herself. There’s still thirty minutes left of her shift. She thinks it’s better to fix her things and head downstairs. She can continue sorting the books tomorrow.

          She just needs to remember not to step foot in that area again. Should she put the music box in its shelf? Would that be a mistake? She doesn’t want the owner to think she’s been snooping around. Carefully picking up the music box, she puts it back on the display shelf, swearing to never open it again.

          She arrives downstairs to see the shop owner talking to a customer. As soon as she sees Soo Jung she waves her towards the counter.

          “Soo Jung-ah, I thought you’ll never go down…”

          “I’m sorry… I was…”

          “It’s okay, you can continue where you left off tomorrow. Oh and also, the books that was sent here earlier today, don’t sort that out yet…”

          “Oh that—“

          “I’ll help you sort that out…” the customer says, facing her. She froze in her place. The person that the shop owner was talking to is the same person that was in her dream.

          “You…”

          “This is my son’s friend… His grandmother donated almost half of the books in this shop. My son, you probably won’t meet him here. He’s allergic to books…” the shop owner laughs with the customer.

          She feels like she’s inside a warp. Her head feels really heavy. “Ahjumma, would it be okay if I go home early today? I’m feeling a bit stuffy…”

          “It must be because you’ve been stuck up there for a long time. You should’ve let her take a break, Ahjumma…”

          “Ya!” the ahjumma hits the guest in the arm. “I’m sorry, Soo Jung-ah…”

          “Ah no… No, ahjumma… I’m just feeling a bit out of the weather today… I’ll just sleep this off…”

          “Sure… Don’t worry about getting to work tomorrow if you’re still not feeling well…”

          “Ye, ahjumma… I’ll go ahead now…”

          Sung Gyu looks at the shop owner after Soo Jung has closed the shop door. “Ahjumma, about that offer… Can I start tomorrow? You need all the help if you’re going to be going out of town…”

          “Are you sure you can handle the store… Just the two of you?”

          “I’ve been helping around a lot… I think I’d be able to handle a few days… I’ll call Woo Hyun if we need extra hands…”

          “I doubt that kid would want to help… But, I do need more hands to help around. I’ll leave the keys with Woo Hyun. Be here before the shop opens…”

          “Ye…”

~0~

          Lee Soo Jung decided to call it a night early. Her head still feels like someone has hit her in the head. The weird feeling didn’t go away even after she took a shower so she figures a rest is needed. She took her bag from the floor deciding to read a bit, maybe it would make her sleep faster. As she’s rummaging through her bag, an unfamiliar book fell out. It doesn’t look like any of the ones she took home from the Seoul Library. She tried to recall if she’s taken any of the unsorted books from the second hand book shop. She did set aside a book for future reading, but doesn’t remember ever putting it inside her bag.

          It’s non-descript. When she opened it, she can see a prologue to a story but the succeeding pages are empty. Puzzled, she flips through entire book only to see empty pages. As she was flipping through a note fell out.

Shine on my path, whether I want it or not, the decision has been made

I will put everything at risk

I will protect you no matter what hardships come

I can’t see anything else but you

          It’s another of those weird writings. She brazes herself; a hand might actually come out of the book. Thankfully nothing happened. She flips the note and sees something written on the back as well.

Would you help me write their story?