Chaeyeon woke up with a mouthful of sand. Still disoriented, he coughed the sand, unconsciously making faces at the taste it left on his mouth. It took a while before he remembered what had happened.

Pushing his body from the ground, he groaned at the ache he felt throughout his whole body, as if his body had been used as a punching bag. With a blurry sight, he could make out the silhouette of a person laying on the sand. Taking a step at a time, he crawled towards the person, hoping it was his friend.

To his relief, Yena was already awake, his face scrunched up in concentration, as if he was doing a very important task, but his eyes were lost.

“Yena?” Chaeyeon called out, waving a hand in front of his face, groaning immediately at the pain. “Yena?” The man seemed to finally react, turning to look at Chaeyeon. He clicked his tongue several times, to then smile at the former.

“Chaeyeon! Come join me! I was watching the sunset!” The younger man turned to look where Yena was pointing at, pursing his lips.

“Uhm...”

“Look, since I already know this is a dream, there’s gonna be a sunset because I want to see one. So, sit down, and watch it with me.” Chaeyeon wasn’t sure of whether to laugh or be worried.

“Yena, this isn’t a dream.”

“Yes, it is. I am going to wake up, and I am going to be delivering fruit far away.”

“Yena, no. This is real. I am real,” Chaeyeon said carefully, deciding to pinch Yena’s arm.

“Ouch! That hurt! Which means... This isn’t a dream! I really decided to follow you to the grand delivery! There was a huge storm and we threw ourselves into the sea!” Yena now looked panicked, a contrast to the calmness he had displayed a few moments ago.

“Well, yes. That’s the summary of it.”

“And we are wrecked! In the middle of nowhere!” Chaeyeon turned to look at all sides, and now that his sight wasn’t as blurry, and his mind was more awake, he realized that Yena was right, they were in the middle of nowhere. The young man wanted to panic, but tried his best to swallow his reaction to Yena’s words, knowing it did him no favors.

However, he had a quick realization that made his panic multiply.

“Wait! Where’s the chest?!”

“It’s there, but it’s already empty,” Yena answered, pointing to the east.

“What do you mean it’s empty?!” Chaeyeon, for the first time, felt like he was about to blow a gasket.

“Yeah, I emptied it,” Yena said. Searching inside his clothes, he produced some papers, which he showed to the younger man.

“You...” Chaeyeon felt ready to choke Yena, but decided to snatch the papers instead, opening each one of them.

“Hah, now you know how panicked I feel!” Yena exclaimed. He got closer to Chaeyeon when he saw the young man examining the papers.

“What... is this?” The papers were only composed of hanja, which made them illegible for Chaeyeon. Sure, she had learned hanja at school, but that didn’t mean she remembered much about it. Plus, the meaning of the papers could vary from what little she could remember, so she had no way of knowing what to do with them.

“Who knows? It’s the only thing that I found in the chest, so I don’t know what are we supposed to do with them.”

“I am... a ,” Chaeyeon interjected, cradling his head in his hands.

“A what?” Yena asked, confused.

“I am an idiot! A nutcrack!” Chaeyeon screamed. “How could I think about delivering this thing when I have no idea where to take this! Where are we supposed to go know!”

“Calm down, Chaeyeon-ah. We’ll find a way,” Yena soothed (despite his confusion at Chaeyeon’s remarks), surprisingly being the voice of reason for once.

“But how?!”

“Look, our first priority is to find civilization, and food, most importantly, food,” Yena explained, taking a deep breath before continuing. “And also, we need to find out where are we stranded. There’s a possibility we are not in Japan at all.”

“Oh, no. Why didn’t I consider this?” Chaeyeon seethed. It was that stupid monster’s fault. Why did he even listen to him? He was probably playing with him, mocking him.

“It’s going to be fine. We’re going to be fine.” The older man continued consoling Chaeyeon, who still hid his face in his hands. It took Chaeyeon a while to get himself together.

“Okay, we really need to search for civilization,” Yena said, standing on his feet. Chaeyeon, after a few moments, did the same.

“You’re right. Let’s just hope that there is actually civilization,” Chaeyeon said, mumbling the last part.

And so they walked through the beach slowly, as their bodies still ached from the previous ordeal (and that was an understatement). They were far from being healthy, but knew they wouldn’t survive in the middle of nowhere, and that propelled them to continue walking.

Nevertheless, they had to take time to rest, choosing to do it in the same manner they did it on the ship, one sleeping and the other taking guard, as they had no clue about what could exist in the wilderness.

Time passed, and they found no signs of civilization, no food and no clean water, which forced them to drink from puddles and other dirty water. However, they restrained from eating anything they had never seen, as, per Chaeyeon’s advice, they could bite into something poisonous and die.

It wasn’t good for their sanity. Chaeyeon hadn’t noticed when the hallucinations had started, but when she least expected it, she was seeing visions and hearing things, some more disturbing than others. Yena wasn’t too far behind on that department, as he seemed to have visions of his own.

Chaeyeon reached a point in which she wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. Part of her already believed she was on her way to death, and another believed that she was already dead, and this was her hell, punishment for whatever wrongs she had committed on earth.

It was understandable, then, when she couldn’t quite believe the existence of the men she was seeing, now surrounding her and Yena, trying to see who they were. Everything was passing in a blur.

Suddenly she found herself being tended, a man who she had never seen using a cloth to dot on her face, for reasons she didn’t understand.

Finally, she let it be, deciding to let herself be wherever she was, be manhandled however they wanted. After all, this was all a dream.

Right?

--

--

His eyes, bleary, blinked a few times, trying to recover his sight. Turning his body to his right, he looked at the door of a fancy room. Where was he? He barely remembered what had happened, the last memory being of her mom playing dress up with her.

“I should stop waking up like this,” Chaeyeon muttered as the door opened, revealing a limping Yena.

“Oh, Chaeyeon! You’re finally up!” Yena huddled to Chaeyeon, who tried sitting up.

“Ugh, what happened?” the younger man groaned, rubbing her back.

“I don’t know. I kind of woke up when these men were bringing us into this temple, and then I loss consciousness again.”

“Temple?”

“Yes, a temple. Apparently, we were close to it, and some priests found us, in their own gestures, half-dead,” Yena explained, gesturing with his hands. “Oh, and I think you should know before they come, and I hope it won’t anger you too much, but they already know about you.”

“What about... Oh,” Chaeyeon exclaimed. He sat pensively, not really feeling angry, but weird nonetheless (and a little panicked).

“Don’t worry, though, they can be trusted! When they discovered you were... well... they left you alone, only coming to give you water and some medicine.”

“How long have you been awake?”

“I don’t know, a few days?” Yena scratched his head in wonder.

“And are you fine?”

“Oh, about that...” Yena looked at Chaeyeon, sheepish. “I don’t know how, but I managed to injured my leg while we were wandering around.”

“Does it hurt?” Chaeyeon asked bewildered, appraising Yena, looking for the injury.

“Not really,” Yena drawled, patting his injured leg. “With the medicine the priests have given me, it has been nice.

“Have you spoken to them?”

“Well, I don’t know their language.” Right.

“Oh, well, I’ll try to see what I can do,” Chaeyeon said, racking in his head for the Japanese that remained in her memories, back when she studied in middle school.

In that moment, the door opened again, revealing two men in peculiar clothes, their robes long, far too long, their faces painted a ghastly white, which made Chaeyeon gape at them.

They gave some exclamations of wonder, rushing to meet Chaeyeon, who looked at them, trying to decipher what little he could understand. With relief, the young man found out he understood it far more than he expected to.

“Uhm, where are we?” Chaeyeon asked, effectively silencing everyone in the room. A few seconds later, one of the men got closer to Chaeyeon.

“Can you speak Japanese?” the man asked.

“A little,” Chaeyeon answered, also gesturing with his fingers. “I can understand,” he added. The man nodded.

“Do you feel good?” the man dumbed down his speech.

“Yes, I feel fine,” Chaeyeon answered. “Where are we?” he asked again.

“You are at the Kofukuji Temple, in Nara,” the other man answered. “You are clearly foreigners, and you don’t know Japanese, but here you are,” the man continued, seemingly not caring enough to dumb down his speech. “Why are you here?”

“We had a delivery,” Chaeyeon answered, not knowing whether to show them the writings or not. “And our friends died at sea. We jumped with the delivery and got here.”

“Where were you supposed to get the delivery to?”

“I don’t know. Our boss didn’t tell us.”

The man looked skeptical, but the other looked far more relaxed.

“It’s fine,” he said, his speech more natural than before (probably because he could see the extent at which Chaeyeon understood Japanese). “You first need to eat.” He signaled at Chaeyeon, who nodded. He did feel hungry. After a wordless discussion between the two men, they left, leaving Chaeyeon and Yena alone.

“How can you speak Japanese?” Yena asked, amazed and a little more suspicious.

“I learned when I was younger,” Chaeyeon answered, hoping that Yena would take his answer at face value and not question him any further. He didn’t want to lie to his friend any more than he already had.

“How? Where can you get someone who can teach you that?” Yena looked at Chaeyeon more quietly, which was frankly scary.

“I... I...” Chaeyeon stuttered, torn between lying again and telling the truth (as much as he could, anyways).

“Are you... Are you really a peasant?”

“Yena...”

“I knew it. You aren’t a peasant!” Yena exclaimed, his cloak of seriousness gone.

“Well, technically no, but...”

“Are you a noble? The daughter of a noble?” Yena asked in fire speed, not letting Chaeyeon answer. “Or maybe...” Yena gasped. “Are you the princess?”

“No, I am not the princess, or any princess,” Chaeyeon answered emphatically.

“Then what are you?”

“Yena...” Chaeyeon sighed. All this time, he had felt guilty at the thought of lying to someone who unconditionally believed him, looked out for him, and accompanied him to a whole another country, no (many) questions asked. But he was sure that whatever came out of his mouth right now, should he try to truly explain himself to Yena, would sound like non-sense, but he... had to try... If he had brought Yena all the way to this place, he owed him at least some truth.

“Yena,” Chaeyeon started, breathing deeply. “What I am about to tell you might seem unbelievable, downright crazy, but I need you to believe me, to believe in me.” Yena nodded, seemingly more intrigued.

“I am not from here,” the younger man said simplistically.

“You are not from Silla?” Yena asked. “Then... are you from Japan? Is that why you wanted to come here?”

“No, I am not from Japan, neither am I from Silla. I am not from anywhere in here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Yena... I am not from this time,” Chaeyeon explained slowly.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t come from here. I come from the future.”

“What?” Yena laughed disbelievingly. “Chaeyeon-ah... are you really okay?”

“It’s the truth,” Chaeyeon affirmed, not swaying at Yena’s skepticism.

“Chaeyeon-ah, you know I wouldn’t get mad at you if you told me. You don’t have to lie to me like this.”

“I am not lying!” Yena quieted down at Chaeyeon’s exclamation.

“Yena,” Chaeyeon said, grabbing the older man’s shoulders. “I am not joking around. I am telling you this because I don’t want to lie to you. You have always done things for my sake, and I want, at the very least, for you to know the truth. I don’t know why or how, but I was flung into this time and place, and I need to go back.” The older man, looked into Chaeyeon’s eyes, trying to find something, maybe a hint of a twisted joke or a flimsy lie, but when he couldn’t find none, he deflated.

“Chaeyeon...” Yena started, getting away from the younger man. “I have followed you this far because, to me, it always seemed that you had a plan. I knew from the start, even when you first rejected my proposal of asking our boss to come to this delivery, that you weren’t planning on staying put. I followed you, because no matter what plan you had, you seemed reliable, and you have been reliable, for the longest time. I believe in you, because you have also believed in me. But it’s impossible for me to believe this. I don’t know if I seem like a fool to you now, or if I have always seemed like that.” He stood up much as could, balancing on one crutch, and left the room.  Chaeyeon didn’t call out for him, even though he felt his heart ache.

The monks entered the room a few seconds after Yena left.

“Oh, hey. Your friend has already left, and we had also brought some food for him,” said the more friendly priest.

“Would it be okay if you take it to him later?” Chaeyeon asked quietly.

“Well, of course! Now, you, eat up,” the man said, giving Chaeyeon a bowl filled with rice. The young man thanked them before eating up.

“Now that you are eating, let’s have a chat.” The young man nodded, opening his mouth to speak first.

“I want to know first. Do you know that I am...?”

“A woman? Yes, we know,” the man answered affably. “I was the one to care of you, so no one else aside from Ryuji and me know.” The man gestured at his partner, Ryuji, who just looked at Chaeyeon impassively, reminding him of the old woman’s companion when he first had arrived here.

“Really, thank you,” Chaeyeon exclaimed, now eating again, his heart more at ease.

“No need. There is just something else we want to know.” Chaeyeon nodded. “Do you still have the delivery? Can we see it?”

Although Chaeyeon was hesitant at their request, figured out that he wouldn’t lose anything if he showed it to them. Perhaps this was one of the steps for Chaeyeon to finally return home. He rummaged in his clothes, and took out the writings, giving it to the men, who looked delighted, even the quiet one.

“Thank you,” the man said, reading them immediately. He became more pensive as he read it, making Chaeyeon more wary.

“Hmm, this is interesting. I think we will have to mull over it before we can even begin to discuss it,” the man explained to no one in particular. “I guess we’ll leave you alone for now. You are free to roam around the temple. Just don’t interrupt any ceremonies.” At Chaeyeon’s nod, he smiled. “Well then. I’ll come to see you tomorrow.”

--

Due to Yena’s injury, and at the monk’s insistence, they both stayed for a while. Despite Yena’s anger at Chaeyeon, the latter wanted to stay until Yena was okay (and until the monks informed him of the contents of the delivery). It wasn’t a total waste, as in the time they had spent there, which was probably two to three months, both he and Yena learned more Japanese (if he guided himself by recounts of the man who was also trying to teach Yena), and Chaeyeon learned more about the monastic life of a Buddhist monk.

It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, as the boredom Chaeyeon felt without his friend was great, and, for the most part, the monks weren’t that open to speaking to Chaeyeon for no reason. The friendly monk he had first met, Kenji, was almost always occupied, and had only stopped by to introduce him to his new Japanese teacher. It made Chaeyeon even more wary of their intentions, but he knew they wouldn’t kill them. If they wanted them dead, they would’ve killed them as soon as Chaeyeon had given them the delivery.

This left Chaeyeon with taking long walks in the surrounding area, watching the warrior monks practice each day, and recounting his story on paper, which marveled his teacher, who had never seen hangeul at all.

The biggest piece of excitement was when his teacher had come one day and happily relayed Chaeyeon the news that had the entire monastery in a buzz.

“The 15^th princess is coming.”

Why was one of the princesses coming to a temple? Well, although Chaeyeon already knew that most of the monks in the temple were nobles or from the royal family, he had no idea that the head of the monastery was the 9^th Prince, Tomiyasu, and the Princess’ full-blooded older brother. It wasn’t abnormal, then, that the Princess wanted to visit her brother and, quoting his teacher, “wanted to take a spiritual journey.”

Chaeyeon wasn’t even sure if he would be permitted to see the Princess, but decided to put his thoughts on her arrival, as it beat the thoughts of her family back home or the thought of Yena still refusing to speak to him.

He asked about the princess, but the most his teacher would tell him was that she was quiet and aloof, often contrasting with the other princesses, who were far more affable and social. Still, it was said she was very talented, and was said to also be intelligent.

Her name? Like the cherry blossom.

Sakura.

So, finally, Chaeyeon is meeting Sakura, and things will come along! Or will they? Thanks for reading, commenting and subscribing... I really hope you are enjoying my story!

And if you can (and haven't read the announcement), I'll shamelessly recommend my own twitter au...

BigDinosaur out!