two.

Yuta gazed up at the magnificent celestial globe floating in the middle of the vast room, waiting for his partner to help deliver the time he had stolen from the crippled man in Joseon. He recalled the woman who lashed out her anger for taking away her father, then heaves a heavy sigh.

‘She’ll get used to it, anyway.’

Just then, an unusual feeling clicked onto Yuta and became alarmed. He sensed that the barrier surrounding Vlendiora has been infiltrated, and this is the first time someone from the outside world has ever done so. He took some moment to ponder, until finally, he realized who crossed the portal to follow him.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” his partner, The Bearer of Time, greeted upon entering. “I ran into some trouble and had to take care of it.” he walks up the stairs and stood beside him. “What’s wrong?”

The familiar scent lingers from him as Yuta narrows his eyes suspiciously.

‘She’s here…’

Jisoo slowly regains consciousness and finds herself lying on a blue canopy bed. She gradually sits up and held her dizzy head, trying to recollect from what happened before she out. As soon as she remembered, the width of her eyes expanded in urgency.

‘That’s right… That man took my father’s time and had to follow him all the way here. I need to find him right now.’

She quickly shuffles out of the bed to commence her search when a pair of fraternal twins rushes to her side and became startled.

“How are you feeling?” The boy asks.

“I-I’m fine… Who are you?”

“My name is Lee Ah Ra,” the girl answers before turning to the boy. “and this is my brother Lee Ah Ro. What’s your name?”

“Jisoo. Kim Jisoo.”

She flashes a bright, welcoming smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Jisoo.”

Jisoo stares at them in a puzzling manner. She examined the twins from top to bottom, where Ah Ra is dressed in pink Lolita clothes while Ah Ro is dressed in blue. Their presence distributed warmth and solace; something that she hasn’t felt in a long time with strangers, and she truly missed it. Although she felt that way, she couldn’t help feeling a bit cautious even with children, in which she strikes it a habit nowadays.

She then introduces herself to the unfamiliar, majestic features she has never seen before, and from the looks of it, it appears to be a blue Victorian bedroom.

“Where am I?” Jisoo inquires.

“You’re in our house,” Ah Ra responds. “We found you unconscious on the road when my brothers and I were leaving town.”

“How long was I asleep?”

“Since last night. We’ve been wondering when were you going to wake up, but now we’re glad that you are.”

“I see.”

The twins softened their expression worriedly. “You must’ve been very tired. Our brother won’t be back anytime soon, so why don’t we have breakfast together and show you around town?”

Jisoo hesitated at first; noting to herself that she has to find the Timekeeper as soon as possible. She couldn’t waste any time, but when she realized that she hasn’t had supper thanks to him, she decided to accept their offer and follows them to the dining room.

The Lee twins gave Jisoo a tour around the nearby village where a small festival was being held ever since yesterday. She tries to hide the fact that she was enthralled by the colorful events, specials stands, and several performances taking place here and there. And because she was enthralled, her heart ached for Joseon knowing that it will be difficult to achieve peace like this. With the Japanese colonization and the Timekeeper still out there, Joseon will continue to fall, unless Jisoo does something about it.

Throughout the tour, Jisoo noticed peculiar stares directing towards her and realized it was her hanbok that appears to be foreign to them. She asked Ah Ra if she knows any clothing stores nearby and was happily escorted there.

While they were at the store, Jisoo picks out a suitable outfit where she could easily blend among the crowd. She chose a white chiffon blouse with lace ruffle bell sleeves and frill scoop neck, and a purple Lolita high waist skirt that reaches down to her knees. As much as she wants to purchase it herself, she held no cash on her and left the bill to the twins, much to her embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about paying us back,” Ah Ra laughs. “You can go ahead and get changed.” She did as she’s told and headed towards the fitting room.

While changing, Jisoo found a handgun strapped to her thigh as a habitual self-defense back in Joseon. She checks to see how many bullets she has left, which is more than enough for her stay and puts it back into the strap. Thankfully, her skirt is long enough to hide it since there is no doubt that she will encounter enemies along the way regardless of the friendly residents in this world.

As soon as she finished, she puts her hanbok in a paper bag before showing herself to the twins. Their eyes sparkled in astonishment at her new outfit, causing her to feel embarrassed.

“You look stunning, Miss Jisoo!” Ah Ro remarks.

“Yes, stunning indeed!” Ah Ra added.

“Th-Thanks…” she stammers, as they continued to go around the village.

They made several stops along the way until they decided to watch a dance performance in the plaza. While doing so, a thought has occurred to Jisoo, wondering if the twins have any knowledge about the Timekeeper. She debated whether she should ask them or not, as she worries she might come off as suspicious. Yet again they may be children, but it’s best to be cautious and hope that they know at least a thing or two about him.

“Say, Ah Ro?”

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