Chapter 2:

            Yeonhae woke up to the shuffling of maids outside her room. She remembered that it was her birthday, and smiled widely to herself as she got dressed into her hanbok. When she took her first step out of her room, she was attacked with hugs and kisses from her sisters.

            “Happy Birthday!” They sang in a melodic tune.

            Yeonhae could only smile because she was on the verge of squealing in excitement for her day outside. She quickly ate her full course breakfast, and headed towards the Queen Dowager’s headquarters, where she quietly listened to a story before starting her day. Yeonhae greeted the palace maids in front of the door, and they announced her coming.

            “Princess Yeonhae has arrived,”

            “Let her in,”

            The Queen Dowager smiled, her wrinkles creasing greatly, but her eyes showed only kindness and warmth. Yeonhae bowed and sat down.

            “You must have waited for this day for a while, Princess,” She spoke in a soft tone.

            “Yes I have,”

            “And you still want to hear a story from this old lady?”

            “Of course! And you’re not old at all. You are the youngest looking Queen Dowager my eyes have ever seen,” Yeonhae exclaimed.

            “Uh uh uh, control the tone of your voice.”

           She pouted in annoyance, “It’s my birthday though,”

            “A Princess does not throw away her proper etiquette whether it is her birthday or not,”

            Yeonhae slumped down.

            “Posture!”

            Letting out a low groan, she sat back up and smiled. “Do you have a story for me today?”

            “Yes. Indeed I do. It is one of my most treasured stories, so listen well.”

            Yeonhae nodded, and listened closely.

            “Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above……..” The Queen Dowager smiled as she spoke.

            Yeonhae took this story to interest. *What a foolish girl,* She shook her head in disapproval as the story came to an end.

            “Princess, why are you frowning?”

            “Because I think it’s very unnecessary to turn into sea foam because of one person.”

            “You may not know, but simple things such as love, can blind you.”

            “Love? Love is confusing,” Yeonhae furrowed her brows in thought. After a while, she finally stood up and bowed. “Thank you for sharing your story today. I will head out now,”

            “Looking like that?” The Queen Dowager eyed Yeonhae skeptically.

            “I look mighty fine, don’t I?” She sighed and rolled her eyes.

            “Ask Eunchae to borrow some powder, will you?”

            Yeonhae bowed again, and headed out. She didn’t need to look beautiful except for the hairpin she received from her grandmother, symbolizing that she was of age; she just wanted to go outside. As she arrived in the main hall, Yeonhae met her grinning father.

            “My youngest, beautiful daughter has finally turned 18!”

            Yeonhae smiled, “Thank you, your highness. I will be heading out now,” 

            She embraced her father, bowed, and left for her new adventure.

1990 (Korea is still in a monarchy)

            “Your Highness, the King wants to see you,” A maid called out to the nation’s crown prince, Byun Baekhyun.

            To be honest, Baekhyun didn’t care about what society labeled him. Prince, Commoner, Master, he didn’t care. All he wanted, was to be free. To live the life as any normal person. Instead, Baekhyun had to uphold his family’s honor, and prepare to take over the throne. Baekhyun sighed in frustration and turned around to go back into the palace. Bowing to the King, he knelt down.

            “May I be of your service, your highness?”

            “I have gathered you here to talk about your marriage. You are of age, and soon, we need to choose a crown princess.”

            “You don’t need to.” Baekhyun closed his eyes to hold in his frustration. Marriage wasn’t a pleasant thing to talk about, because he thought he was far too young, and he wanted to be able to fall in love on his own.

            “You are very lucky this wasn’t back in the time where you had to get married at 12 years old,” The King sighed.

            “Good, because I don’t want to get married right now. I will wait until I am ready,”

            “You are ready,”

            “HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO KNOW?” Baekhyun yelled angrily, forgetting that he was talking disrespectfully to the King.

            He stormed out of the main hall, and back into the streets. He wanted to get out of this palace, which was suffocating him, as soon as possible. He couldn’t stand this marriage talk. He wasn’t paying attention, when he bumped into a middle aged lady, carrying a bucket of strange objects. He fell over, scraping his hands on a green object.

            “I apo-“ He was cut off by this strong gust of wind. The world around him began to spin around and around, and his surroundings became more and more unfamiliar. A thump on his head made him fall unconscious on the ground.

Joseon Period:

            Yeonhae finally stepped out of the palace, and the sun splashed her skin with light. Squinting because of the brightness, Yeonhae headed out of the gate blocked by guards, and headed into the villages. It was entirely different from the palace. The houses were poorly built, with roofs collapsing and mud slaughtered over the front. *I hope this isn’t His Highness’s doing.* She frowned and kept going. Many people looked at her as if she was an alien from space. Ignoring this, she went up to a shop with appealing, patterned tassels. She picked a jade one up and examined it. 

            “Does this pretty young lady want to buy one?” The shop keeper asked as she smiled warmly.

            “Yes please, just this one,” She handed the tassel to the lady, and paid. “Thank you!”

            Yeonhae smiled at her new purchase, and went off to get some food. She was glancing around, when a heavy force hit her, making her fall back into the dirt. Yeonhae slowly opened on eye, and slowly the next, only to find an unconscious guy with a deep cut on his side laying on her body. Surprised, Yeonhae jumped up, and looked at the boy. *What strange clothes!* She bent down to get a closer look at him. His facial features were perfect, and she admired his full, long eyelashes. Yeonhae gasped at the resemblance between him and her porcelain statue that she had loved for so long. She leaned even closer to his face, their noses millimeters from touching, and her big pale eyes, filled with curiosity. Her heart started to beat faster and faster, and blood was pumping rapidly into her veins. Yeonhae had never felt this before. Her eyes traveled down to his lips, which were cut and bleeding. Taking her sleeves, as she didn’t have any handkerchief, she carefully dabbed his wound. Yeonhae used all of her strength to lift him up, and drag him to the nearest shop; labeled, Shaman.

            A mysterious aura filled the awfully quiet room.

            “Is anyone here? Help please!” Yeonhae cried.

            A shuffle of feet could be heard, and a shaman with doe- like eyes and full lips appeared. Her eyes lingered to the boy that was in Yeonhae’s arms.

            “Well well well, what do we have here?” She cocked her head.

            “I’m not sure, but he was unconscious.”

            “Lay him down here. I’ll have to examine him and then patch him up.”

            Yeonhae laid him down and looked at him worriedly, “Will he be alright?”

            The Shaman examined him. “We have a time traveler here.” She looked up with mysterious eyes.

            “Pardon me?”

            “Oh it’s nothing. I will have to have you take him back into the place where he belongs in order to fully heal.”

            “How shall I do that?”

            “Come. Here is a gem that will take you to the right place. When you are ready to go, say “Let the space between time be merged together, let the time between space become one.” Say the same when you are ready to come back. This world you will enter is entirely different from the world you see, so do not be too surprised.” The Shaman instructed.

            Yeonhae was still confused, but took the gem generously.

            “Let the space between time be merged together, let the time between space become one.”

            Yeonhae and the boy began to spin around and around, until they had fully disappeared from the market.

1990:

When Yeonhae woke up, she found herself in an unfamiliar street. There were these metal moving boxes zooming side by side, and many bright lights flashing. She looked down and saw the boy she had rescued. Her eyes softened and her heart began to become faster once again. When Yeonhae realized that she was somewhere that she shouldn’t be, she let her lips graze gently against the boy’s head, where a bruise nested.

*Please heal soon*

            The boy stirred and Yeonhae jumped back in surprise. Scared, Yeonhae quickly hid behind the closest wall she could find. She saw another girl, also dressed in weird clothes, timidly approach the boy, and help him up. His lips curved into a smile as he looked at her. Yeonhae  clutched her heart as the girl helped him into her metal box, and drove away. *I suppose he doesn’t know about me then?* Realizing that people were looking at her, she murmured the words that the Shaman told her, and vanished.

Joseon Period:

            Yeonhae was still in a daze because of her brief but impacted encounter with that handsome boy. She longed to see him again, every single day. She looked back sadly at the outside world, and sulked back into her smothering, sealed palace. As soon as she stepped in everyone froze and gasps escaped from their mouths.

            “Is something wrong?” Yeonhae blinked as she eyed herself.

            There was nothing wrong, just a little dirt and blood on her dress, and stands of her hair were sticking out of her now messed up braid.

            “What happened to you?” Eunchae’s orbs grew wider as if she had seen a monster.

            “Nothing.”

            “Look at yourself, sister! You look like you were just in a war? Look at those plump lips of yours! They are now cut and bleeding!”

            Yeonhae raised her hand to her lip, and her eyes widened. *This means…* And she was right. The boy’s lips had come in contact with hers for a brief moment. Smiling brightly, she bounded away, past her sisters, not caring about their words. Yeonhae went to the Queen Dowager’s quarters, to ask her about this peculiar place that she had been to today.

            The Queen Dowager looked surprised at the young princess as she seated herself down on the ground because of her vulgar appearance.

            Clearing , she asked, “How was your day, young one?”

            “Oh it was amazing! There were so many things that I’ve never seen before! Oh and, may I ask you a question?”         

            “Please do,”

            “Is there such thing as teleporting to another world with metal boxes?” Yeonhae’s eyes twinkled in excitement as she explained what she saw.

            The Queen Dowager’s brows creased in thought. She was a wise person, always thinking of a logical way to explain things.

            “I do believe there are such things. But it only comes in rare occasions. I believe only Shamans are able to work that kind of magic.”

            “Shaman?” Yeonhae remembered that the shop that she went into in order to save the boy, was called Shaman.

            Her eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously, “Thank you! I shall be taking my leave now.”

            Yeonhae ran back into her room and sat in front of her statue. Studying him closely, she thought, *The boy looked like this, didn’t he? Handsome he is!* She reached out and the statue’s lips, as if they were those of that boy. *I would love to see him again!*

With that, she made the decision to go back and pay a visit to the Shaman, during her royal banquet.