Seoul University —— 2020

She knew she had to focus but it wasn’t easy. 

After being assigned as partners, Haeun and Taeyong had agreed to meet in the school’s library to pick a topic and begin doing some research. But the second they sat down across from each other in a secluded corner, her vision tunneled to see him and only him. 

Her eyes traced the little scar near his eye, one that he had sustained when he was serving as the King’s guard once Jaehyun had ascended the throne. Each lifetime, the scar was the result of different injuries but it was always something she adored. It gave his face character and in her pastime she’d trail her fingertip around the scar until he’d laugh and duck out of reach. 

She wondered how he got it this time.

“So what were you thinking about doing? Having to write about any event in the Joseon period is kinda broad.”

Silence slipped by as she stared at his lips, pretty and pink. 

“Haeun?”

Blinking, her eyes left his lips and landed on his curious eyes. “Huh?”

His lips twitched, “Any ideas?”

“O-Oh, well, I took out some books earlier that could be helpful. We can look through them and see what seems interesting. We could write about policy in the Joseon era and compare it to present-day policy. We could also study rituals and traditions. There’s a ton of stuff here.” She said while pulling some books out of her bag. 

He picked one up and flipped through it, “Yeah that sounds good, but you don’t really want to do that, do you?”

“What do you mean?” She asked, confused. 

He smiled, his eyes running over the text. "Policy and tradition are boring and everyone's going to do it. You want to do our project about something no one else is going to do."

Her own smile blossomed as she opened another book, “I mean, I wouldn’t say no if you also wanted to do that.”

They worked like that for a few hours, flipping through the books she had brought with her and pulled some books from the shelves to look through as well. It was nice working with him, it was a comfortable silence as they read, shared ideas and took notes. She loved the peacefulness that the two of them could sustain, just relaxed without the need to fill silences with mindless chatter.

“What about this? The Jung Regime.” 

Haeun froze, her mind drawing a blank as the heat from her body draining until the tips of her fingers and the end of her toes were frozen cold. Her chest pounded and the sound of blood rushing filled her ears as she slowly looked up from her book to stare at Taeyong. 

Maybe she heard him wron—

“Haeun? What do you think about studying the Jung Regime?” He repeated while turning the open book to her. 

dried as she stared at the page in front of her. 

In elegant black lines, the image of a mighty dragon. 

The royal seal. 

Her trembling hand reached out and took the book from him. She flipped the page, her eyes hurriedly moving across the words. 

‘In the 1840s began the reign of the Jung Regime. Led by the King who had helmed the throne for 60 years before voluntarily stepping down for his son, the Crown Prince to take the throne in the dawn of the 20th Century. During his tenure, the newly crowned King ruled the nation for 50 years before his passing. Being the only King to rule without a Queen, he also left no heir behind. After his death, the regime changed as monarchy turned to democracy.’

How was this possible?

In all the iterations of their lives, in all the universes they had existed in, there had never been hard proof that their past lifetimes were real. They had tried at first, to find evidence of her skating career or of his vet clinic or of the Jung Royal family. They could never find any of it. It had led them to believe that each of their lifetimes were brand new, reset, and had no connection to their previous ones except for the people in it.

Like their past lifetimes never existed outside of their own memory.

Textbooks never had anything about the Jung Regime before, some other Regime would be in its place. Flipping the page, her eyes widened when she saw a photo of the painting of the Royal family. The same painting that Jaehyun had shown her when they first met and had joked about its extravagance. It was identical and the people in it looked exactly like him and his parents did in that era. 

“What do you think?”

She could barely hear him as she stared at Crown Prince Jaehyun staring up at her from next to his parents. She began aggressively flipping through the chapter, hoping to see a picture of the guards, but she knew that they were never captured in artwork. But skimming the pages, everything written about the Jung Regime was exactly as she remembered it. 

“Haeun?” He called out, his face twisting in concern. 

She flipped back to the family picture before shoving it in his face, “Who does this look like?”

“Huh?” He blinked and leaned back to properly look at the image. He stared at it for a minute before tilting his head, “Uhh…no one, really. Why?”

He couldn’t recognize Jaehyun, even though he was best friends with him and he looked exactly like him in this picture. 

“Doesn’t it kinda look like Jaehyun?” She asked.

He frowned and looked at the picture again before chuckling, “I don’t really see it but don’t tell Jaehyun that he looks like a prince.”

She smiled weakly before setting the book down. “Maybe I’m wrong.”

No.

She wasn’t wrong.

But this entire thing was. 

“Um, so for a topic, why don’t we write about the Crown Prince? He was the first King to never marry and it led to the start of the age of democracy. It should be cool to write about.” He suggested. 

She just nodded, barely paying attention, it was going to be so weird to sit with him and research about a part of history that he lived through. 

Two of the people who had the most insider information about King Jaehyun and his rule as a single man had no recollection. 

At least maybe there would be a chance that looking into all of this might trigger his memory. 

“I’ll go to the Archives after class and find some material we could use. Do you want to meet at the cafe tonight and work on it?” She asked. 

He nodded with an easy smile, “Sounds good.”

Joseon Dynasty —— 1889

Ever since that day, there was a sense of tension that existed whenever she was in a room with her parents. They weren’t really only speaking terms and it was making Mark so uncomfortable that he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

Until a few weeks later when she was helping Mark close up the shop and her parents slowly approached her, side-by-side. 

“Darling, can we talk to you?”

She shared an uneasy look with Mark and wiped her hands on her apron, “What is it?”

“Your mother and I were talking and we understand how going to the matchmaker behind your back wasn’t fair to you and we wanted to apologize for that.” Her father said. 

She shifted on her heels and nodded, “Okay, I guess. I forgive you, just don’t do it again without telling me first.”

“There’s one more thing.” Her mother said with a small smile, “I found out that some of the village girls are going to be traveling to one of the neighboring towns together at the end of the week. It’s a long trip, it should take a few days to get there and back. I know it’s not as exotic and interesting as you’d like but, if you wanted to accompany them, you have our permission.”

Her eyes widened as the words sunk in, “Really? Is this is a trade? If I go on this trip, I have to meet with suitors when I get back?”

“No, we promise this is just a trip. We realized that if we never give you a chance to see the world then you’ll never feel ready to get married. I think you just need somewhere to start and we want to give you that chance.” Her father said while the back of her head. 

Tears of joy filled her eyes as she raced to hug her parents. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you guys so much.”

They laughed and hugged her back, “We were wrong sweetheart, we just want to make you live a good stable life. But more than that, we just want you to be happy. You’ll figure everything out. You can get married when you feel the time is right.”

She sighed in contentment, a weight lifting off her shoulders, and squeezed her family tighter until she spotted Mark smiling at them from the corner. Haeun reached her hand out and waved him over, “Get over here, Mark. You’re part of this family.” 

-----

After the hugging and crying, Haeun had finished her chores as quickly as possible before grabbing her robes and giving her parents a vague excuse of needing some fresh air before racing out of the shop. 

Moving faster than she ever did before, she managed to make it to the palace before sundown. She stood outside the palace grounds, bouncing on her heels until Taeyong had a chance to slip away from his command. He met her by the gate with a little jog and a big smile. 

“Did you wait long?” He asked when he stopped in front of her. 

Haeun shook her head, beaming up at him. His face melted into a look of pure surprise, “Did you receive good news? You’re particularly cheerful tonight.”

“Yes, in fact, I have just received the most amazing news that I had to come here right away to tell you about it.” She quipped happily.

He wondered if she knew how those words made his heart soar. What an addictive feeling, to be the person she wanted to share good news with first. He wanted more of that. He wanted to be the person she shared her bad news with too.

“I’m traveling!” She exclaimed.

He blinked before tilting his head, “Traveling?”

“With some of the girls from the village. We’re leaving at the end of the week.” She said happily. “It’s going to be my first time, I’m finally doing it!”

He stared at her long and searchingly without speaking before looking off over her shoulder. “Would you want to accompany me somewhere right now?”

-----

“Are you sure this is safe?” She muttered worriedly. 

He brushed his hand against the side of his horse’s face, “I’ve ridden this stead since I was a teenager. I know him like the back of my hand. He’s the safest creature you could want.”

She was unsure but with a little coaxing, he took her hand and held her carefully before helping her up onto the saddle. Once she was settled, he hooked his food into the stern and swung his other leg to straddle the horse. He gripped the reins and glanced over at her. 

“Hold on tight, sunflower.”

Her eyes lit up and slowly slid her arms around his waist, palms flat against his stomach. She snuggled closer to his back, as her hands explored the firmness beneath her hands. He let out a breathy laugh to hide the delicious, wanting shiver her touch brought before snapping the reins. 

The horse took off out of the palace gates and Taeyong guided it through dirty paths as the chilly night breeze glided through their hairs and caressed their faces. She pressed her face against his shoulder, breathing him in, the heat in her body a contrast to the cold air. 

Eventually, the horse’s gallop slowed into a trot before it stopped in front of a beautiful tree with draping leaves and a soft pale green glow at the very top of a hill. Taeyong hopped off first and tied the horse to the back of a bench perched under the tree before holding his arms out to her. 

Taeyong held her by the waist and helped her down before leading her to the bench to sit next to her. She gasped when she finally took in the view in front of her. She could see the glittering lights of her humble town and the shining fireball that was the palace. Woven between the bright town lights were sleeping fielding where farmers worked to harvest the fruits of