Lim Jae Bum- Love...That Guy

"Excuse me, can you repeat?" Minjae asked completely bewildered with what he just heard.

"I said I'm going to an exhibition." Fei mumbled from her comfortable seat on the couch in her apartment.

"And..."

"With Dohyun. He invited me since he received two tickets from his grand-father."

"Sounds a bit like a date, doesn't it?" Hikaru commented from his spot next to her.

"Don't." Fei stopped Hikaru before he could make her even more excited.

But Minjae did not share their feelings.

"It's an exhibition on Joseon. There will be portraits of the kings and stuff that was theirs. We both know what will happen!"

"Nothing will happen, I'm not a kid." She muttered before she got up and pushed the raven out. "Now you go back to work. It's enough that you went and told Dohyun unimportant information."

Minjae wished to nag more but he knew it was for nothing. He was not about to waste his breath.

"Are you sure you'll be fine? There will most definitely be a drawing of Lee Hyang. Besides, didn't you say he had that parchment?"

Fei didn't answer but she was aware of it. She still remembered how she came to leave such a piece of Greek writing for an important figure in another nation's history. Back then she never thought she would be forced to leave so suddenly. She was naive to think that he would treasure her memory in the first place but that was...a mistake from her part.

That night she worked with a lot of thoughts running through her mind. Her aspect changed according to her needs and environment when she regenerated but her heart was the same and so were her eyes.

Once she was done with registering the last application, she got up and checked the soul registry. She didn't lie when she said that she had to keep track of the souls but people died every second which meant she was supposed to work all day, every day. Instead, she had a magical registry that was updating itself every time someone died. What she was doing on the laptop was literally reviewing applications and sending them forward to the death department. It was boring work so of course she could easily get side-tracked which seemed to happen more often now that Dohyun was in her life.

"What are you doing?" Hyang asked her.

He was reading peacefully outside and it seemed like a good day to spend with her. It was quiet and sunny and it smelled like spring was all around him.

Fei, on the other hand, was seated across him. There was a bit of a distance between them since he was the king and she was a lowly foreigner. She was concentrating on learning how to write in Hanja but it wasn't going as quickly as she hoped.

"I'm growing old. I used to learn in just a few weeks but now my brain just cannot understand it." She replied frowning at the random signs on her parchment.

She tried several times, her hair was falling into her eyes since she refused tying it like the other ladies. She was adamant to keep little characteristic of her nation although she more or less respected the Korean culture and its customs. Hyang smiled softly as the wind blew against her face, her eyebrows narrowing in concentration. He chuckled when he saw her pout and throw aside another parchment.

Fei was so focused that she started the word from left to right when another hand engulfed hers and moved it on the right.

"What-" she looked up and blushed seeing him right behind her.

He wrote the word horizontally and let her go.

"This is a lot easier when you have someone to correct you." He said making her turn her sight on the parchment.

"Hmm." She hummed and wrote down, right in the middle, a whole sentence in ancient Greek.

σ' ἀγαπῶ

"What does it mean?" He asked leaning even more over her shoulder.

"You figure it out. Or let your descendants find the answer." She said and signed her name in the corner with roman letters.

"He probably threw it out, right?" She asked herself now that it was brought to her attention.

"Even my journal disappeared after all. That old bastard must have burned them all..."

Next day, bright and early, Fei met Dohyun in front of the bus station in their neighbourhood. It was cute how he was already there, waiting for her looking like he was still a student. Meanwhile, she came dressed elegantly in a dress and with boots. Her coat seemed to be too thin for how cold it was getting and her hair was tucked behind her ear. Dohyun felt underdressed.

"Good morning! You are up awfully early." She started as soon as she reached him.

"You too. Aren't you cold?" He asked checking her outfit up in one look.

"Nope. Theoretically, I don't get cold. But I do get tired quicker." She said as she sat next to him. "Are you eager? I know you like Korean history."

"I do." He said and realized he invited her mostly because of his little discussion with Hikaru a few days ago. "Do you like it too?"

"I lived through some of it." She replied, avoiding to say yes or no. That was enough for Dohyun to know she wasn't a fan of it. "I lived some of my happiest moments during the Joseon dynasty." She added seeing him fret over her words.

"With...your former lover?" He asked warily. He expected her to get angry but she only raised an eyebrow.

"So Minjae and Hikaru got that covered, hm?" Her tone was bitter but she didn't sound angry. "Yes, with my former lover."

"Have you not dated afterwards?"

"I...the arrow is a remembrance that I shouldn't trust humans. A human broke my heart, remember?"

"I am human." He shut her up with just three words.

"Yeah...you are." She muttered feeling uncomfortable.

The ride to the museum was quiet. None uttered a word after their chat at the bus stop but Dohyun watched her and noted her little expressions. For example, Fei always smiled when she saw children. Sometimes she looked ahead with no expression but from his seat next to her he swore she seemed to be longing for the lives of other people. If there was a handsome man nearby, she wouldn't bat one eye and she seemed oblivious to how she was perceived from outside.

When they reached the museum, she stopped at the entrance and seemed to prepare herself mentally.

"Are you alright?"

"No." However she still entered.

They probably wandered around for an hour before Dohyun met some of his former classmates from college. Fei saw the girl that was book shopping with him before and nodded at her nonchalantly. They probably had a lot to say to each other, especially since the exhibition was heaven for them. She couldn't believe how many documents were preserved and yet she didn't see her parchment.

"He must have burnt it," she muttered to herself as she glanced around. And then she saw it. A corner with him as the centre figure. She didn't even check what Dohyun was doing, she couldn't control her feet as they led her in.

There were indeed many of his belongings, some that he did use and some that just were in the palace. She didn't see anything that was a gift from her and most of the documents about her stay at the palace were safe in the warehouse.

And then, with a beating heart full of anticipation, she approached his drawing. It was old, from when he was younger. When she met him he wasn't a king, his father was still alive but most people at the court called him king already. He was always just Lee Hyang to her and she was careful to draw a clear line between them. And then he trampled right over it and eventually, made her fall in love with him.

Looking at his youthful face she couldn't help remember all the good times they spent together. One in particular...

It was already known that Fei liked spending time in the gazebo that was looking over a small lake. From there she could hear every breathing soul in the palace and she found their daily plans to be very amusing.

And then she heard him come and sit behind her. Nothing was heard and he seemed to be reading when very slowly and carefully, he slipped his hand to the side with his palm up. If someone was to pass by they could only see half of them, the one that didn't draw attention. Hyang frowned when nothing happened. But then he felt her little hand cover his and their fingers interlocking. They both smiled and a sweet flowery fragrance filled the gazebo.

Fei was happy.

It was such a big contrast to the present. Such small moments between them were precious. They spent three years together and one was filled with confusion and worries because he became the king. The throne came with a wife and with a lot of questions about his relationship with Fei. In the end, the court won. She expected that ending, she prepared for it mentally but it still hurt so much.

Tears dropped down her cheeks as she still felt attached to those memories of him. She didn't hate Korean history, she probably didn't hate Hwanung either...she just hated how she still loved Lee Hyang so much when he stood and watched how others made her a liar. What hurt the most was that he forgot all about her afterwards. He married and had children and she became just a nice memory...

People stared in awe as Fei cried in front of the portrait. When Dohyun found her, he could only see her from behind. She was still like a rock so when he approached her, he didn't expect her to run past him. Looking up at the reason that made her react so harshly he couldn't help but gasp. It was like looking at a picture of himself dressed in royal garments. That was when Dohyun understood Minjae and Hikaru.