Myungsoo opened his eyes one-by-one, his head face down and squished onto his mat. How… how did I get here? Myungsoo lifted up his head and pushed himself off the floor.

MY HEAD!

Myungsoo fell on his back, experiencing an earsplitting headache that felt like he was stabbed repeatedly in the head. Myungsoo had no control over his body, rolling around on the floor in agony. He had never suffered through such an unpleasant tremor before except for a laceration on his leg from a martial arts training. Mustering up all the energy to move, he tumbled towards the door and dragged himself off the floor with the door handle. Dragging the handle down, he opened it up and slithered his way down the hallway.

He leaned against the walls, rubbing his head and arriving to the kitchen where Hoya was watching television with a homework reading on his lap, and Sungjong was in the kitchen making another breakfast of eggs.

Myungsoo blinked his eyes multiple times, the whole room spinning in circles.

“Rise and shine honey,” Sungjong smirked, flipping a whole egg in his pan.

Myungsoo was confused, taking support from the dining room table. “My head is in so much pain right now.”

“Now THAT is what we call a hangover,” Hoya added in, shifting his body to look at the drunkard prince. “You had a fantastic time last night.”

“I did?” Myungsoo had no recollection of the events that occurred the evening before. The last thing Myungsoo remembered was running after Sungyeol outside to talk to him. The next thing he knew, he was sleeping on his mat with a nasty headache.

“You and Sungyeol…” Sungjong shook his head. “Goddamnit.”

A flushing noise erupted in the bathroom and the doors swung open. Out came Sungyeol, his hair flying everywhere wearing his shirt from the evening before, which was ripped from the arm, as well as his pants off. Sungyeol clicked his tongue and entered the kitchen, unaware of any of his surroundings. “What the hell happened last night?”

“Well, let’s see…” Hoya bit his tongue and stared at the ceiling to count up the catastrophe of Taeyeon’s birthday. “You and Myungsoo took five shots in a row within a 20 minute span. After, you stormed the dance floor and versused each other in a dance competition. Sungyeol jumped on top of a bar counter and yelled out to the world, ‘I’M Y, FREE, AND SINGLE’, and once the buzz died down Myungsoo threw up on Woohyun’s shoes.”

Sungyeol and Myungsoo’s eyes widened, looking at each other in shock hearing the rest of their evening. Sungyeol was in utter disbelief, while Myungsoo could do nothing but hide his face shamefully in his hands.

“Yup. You two got kicked out of the club,” Sungjong finished, slapping the eggs on top of everyone’s plate for breakfast.

Myungsoo felt humiliated that he lost his senses that evening. Especially after bringing to attention his changing lifestyle, this was exactly everything the Crown Prince tried to avoid. “I am apologetic for my actions. This is not the way a…”

Thankfully his gag reflexes prevented him from unintentionally revealing his secret. Before he could finish his sentence, he threw up in his mouth.

The remaining three faltered back, pointing in the direction of the hallway. “Throw up in our toilet!” Sungjong charged.

Myungsoo kept his hands on his mouth to hold his vomit, wobbling forward to make his way to the bathroom and throw up in the white porcelain of wonder. With the smell of Sungyeol’s noxious vomit stinking up the room, it only encouraged Myungsoo to throw it all up.

Sungyeol weaved his fingers through his hair, not in the mood for anything. “What a ridiculous night,” he shook his head.

“I know. Especially since it’s already noon,” Hoya remarked, turning a page of his book.

“It’s noon?!” Sungyeol exclaimed, scratching his head. “Goddamnit, we wasted so much of the day sleeping we need to go out soon before Hoya leaves!”

“You mean, you and Sungyeol wasted most of the day sleeping,” Sungjong pointed his chopsticks at his brother. “What do you have planned anyways?”

At least Sungyeol remembered that much. “We’re gonna visit Namdaemun and have a picnic, and later we can walk around the city.”

“Namdaemun? You mean the Joseon gate?” Sungjong clarified.

“Yeah. That one.”

Hoya closed his book. “Is this one of your political agendas to get us more interested in history?”

“Not this time!” Sungyeol swore, waving his hands in the air. “We’re going for Myungsoo.” Sungyeol was too out of his mind to realize that he was about to reveal Myungsoo’s secret to his cousin, blurting things out like it was nothing. “While Myungsoo stays at our place, I want to take him to a lot of the main Joseon centers so that he won’t feel so homesick and always remember where-“

Sungjong panicked, using his chopsticks to poke his brother in the eye and stop him.

“DAMNIT SUNGJONG!” Sungyeol squealed, blinding him to slam his head against the wall and fall back to the floor in pain.

Sungjong stood there, holding his chopsticks and staring up at Hoya like nothing was going on.

Hoya furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Why did you poke Sungyeol?!”

Sungjong cleared his throat, watching his brother suffer through the worst hangover of his life and a chopstick shoved into his eye. “Because…. he was going to spoil the… surprise…”

(((())))

Sunggyu sat down in his study chambers, addressed to the current advisor of the Chinese emperor to affirm their plans of expanding food trade with Korea. It had been a stressful time for Sunggyu, crumpling up a whole pile of papers from mess ups in writing the perfect letter. Little ink blotches stained the paper as well as repeated errors and misspellings in his language. His hand was shaky, with too much weighed down in his mind.

"Prince Sunggyu."

He looked up from his desk to find Naeun standing at his doorway. Her voice was soft in her call, sounding a bit fatigued. Her face was noticibly paler in complexion than normal without any sort of blush to paint her face. Her eyes drooped down with gray at the bottom of her lids, showing signs of a lack of sleep. Lastly, her outfit was a lot more simple than anything Sunggyu had seen before with a red and white hanbok that was not customed to extravagance. 

All of this aside, Sunggyu still thought she was beautiful. "Son Naeun." Sunggyu rose from his seat and greeted his self-proclaimed angel with a 90 degree bow. 

"Lunch will be served soon," she announced.

The atmosphere in his chambers signified a sort of anxiety between the both of them, holding some tension within them from a couple days before. After Sunggyu tried to advance their relationship with a single kiss, Naeun was taken aback and left the premises as soon as possible. It worried Sunggyu that he destroyed the very grounds of friendship he had Naeun with a selfish peck. Sunggyu knew the line he crossed as he took his cousin's fiance in his arms, but he could no longer control his feelings. 

Sunggyu did not move or say a word to Naeun's call for a meal. Instead, he stood there dumbfounded with a guilty conscience.

"Sunggyu, should we attend to the dining hall?" Naeun asked.

Sunggyu's throat was dry. Anytime Naeun was around his senses failed him and his limbs buckled up, but this time around their very relationship was hanging by a single thread. He was worried, and especially for someone he had watched from afar for some time he did not want to lose her. "Naeun, I apologize if my kiss two days before was inappropriate. I should have taken into consideration the factors of your relationship with my cousin, but I acted on an impulse of my feelings for you."

Naeun bit her tongue, unsure how to respond to Sunggyu. "Sunggyu, do we need to talk about it this instance?"

Sunggyu had never felt so desperate in his life. He held back his feelings for Naeun for so long, and now that it was within reach he could no longer contain himself. Sunggyu crushed the official letter he was writing in his hands unknowingly, Naeun meaning more to him than anything else in the world. "Please. I need to know how you feel about me."

It was a difficult subject for Naeun. As she once held the title of the future Crown Princess of Joseon, her ego suffered upon the disappearance of King Myunghae's main suspect of murder, her own husband-to-be. With Myungsoo escaping the kingdom without a single note or message to her, she received no closure for their relationship.

"It has been a month since the exiled prince left our humble palace to that of the unknown," she started, as if Naeun had prepared to say her monologue for quite some time. "In this month time, I have shared a serious amount of time with you and I have to admit, I have developed feelings for you as well. In fact, when I was first introduced to the both of you I had fallen for your looks first. With Myungsoo gone, what else can I do?"

Sunggyu could barely breath, his lungs caged in to hear Naeun confess that she likes Sunggyu as well. You liked me first? 

"Where we stand, as much as I want to act on my feelings as well I have to stay honest to the House of Kim and my people. We have yet to find whether Myungsoo, dead or alive. It is too much on my emotional health to continue lying to myself that Myungsoo is out there. I believe that we must move on to help this nation flourish. In the mean time, I must stay loyal to Myungsoo for a little while longer. I need a definitive answer before moving on. Within a week, if Myungsoo does not return I will return my feelings for you."

Naeun's answer was much more refreshing than he expected. For someone who had never pursued a woman in his life, let alone one who was planned to marry his own cousin, it was heartwarming knowing that his actions were not wasted on air. Knowing that Naeun had developed feelings for Sunggyu was more than enough at the time, but he desired more to their relationship as time passed by. Yet, Sunggyu understood her sentiment of finding a conclusion between her and Myungsoo's relationship. Their relationship was progressing, and Sunggyu wanted it to continue. "While I am skeptical of my cousin's return, I wholeheartedly recognize your needs and want you to take your time. We shall maintain a platonic relationship until Myungsoo returns, and if he does not come back to the House of Kim I will comply to your every need."

(((())))

"Taeyeon likes Woohyun, huh?" Sungjong was midway to stuffing rice into his mouth. The news was not quite like he expected. "That herp derp?"

"Yeah." Sungyeol lay on their blanket, his hands behind his back as he observed the moving clouds on a relatively bright day. His body was relaxed, resting his head was everything he needed. "He is smart, I'll give him that. But god, him? I feel sorry for Taeyeon almost that he is her next boyfriend."

The four of them conducted a picnic right in front of Namdaemun, a large fortress that represented the Seoul city gates during the Joseon Dynasty. Standing tall in a pagoda-style roof, the gateway was known as a National Treasure of Korea during recent times. When it was first built, the brick gate connected to a tall wall that surrounded the whole city to protect it from invaders. 600 years later Namdaemun was centered in a busy traffic exchange, acting as a park for people to visit.

"You're not sad about it?" Hoya questioned, lying on his stomach and slurping on some japchae.

Sungyeol reflected on last night and the instance he saw the love of his life locking lips with another man, and someone he despised at that. It was crucial moment that can make or break a person, and Sungyeol admitted that he almost thought his life was over when he realized he had no second chance to win her back. His night almost finished when he cried on the streets of Hongdae, like there was no hope left for him to ever find love ever again.

Thankfully, Myungsoo was there to talk him out of his rut and get him right to where he needs to be.

"I mean obviously it still hurts losing Taeyeon like that. She was my first love and she always will be. I may have my outbursts once in a while, but this time I'm not as desperate as I was when she first time. There was a reason she broke up with me, and I want the person I love to see me through all my imperfections. Taeyeon... we had a good run. I will always love her, and we'll always be friends. That's what she wanted in the first place, and she never wanted to lose me or the relationship we had. Now, I am ready to be the friend she needs." It took a lot of thinking throughout the day for Sungyeol to come to that conclusion. Nothing will ever be perfect like a cookie cutter, and Sungyeol accepted it for what it was. 

"Thank god, I was half expecting you to pull an episode like Myungsoo did this past week. Except yours would be ten times worse," Sungjong laughed, adding some curry and rice to his plate. "I didn't want to be dragging you out of bed like I did last time."

"I'm glad you care about my happiness," Sungyeol carped, punching his brother in the shoulder.

"Obviously, since when did Sungjong care about people's feelings?" Hoya joked.

Myungsoo sat relatively quiet for their outing to Namdaemun, keeping to himself and eating as much japchae as he could. Not to say that Myungsoo was not having a great time or felt awkward around a new person. It was a matter of two reasons: the prince wanted to discipline himself for the monstrosity he came last evening, and all big movements made him want to barf his brains right into their picnic blanket.

Myungsoo desired a lowkey stroll to breath in some fresh air, as well as seeing how the main center of Joseon transportation changed overtime fascinated him. "Does anyone want to walk around Namdaemun?" he asked.

"I'm fine for now," Sungjong shrugged, too lethargic to consider.

"Same. I'm still eating," Hoya answered.

"I'll go." Sungyeol wanted to stretch his legs, sitting himself up and getting on his feet to follow Myungsoo to the gate.

"So Sungjong, tell me more about Myungsoo," Hoya started, putting all eating utensils down on his plate to get down to business. 

There was something uncomfortable about his cousin's voice. The intonation of it all seemed to imply that Hoya may have knew something more than he should have. Sungjong had a scrumptious bite of rice and chicken ready to eat, but upon hearing him he stopped himself with his mouth wide open. He could not get himself to take that bite until he was sure Hoya knew nothing. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, Myungsoo is a nice guy and all. But..." Hoya tried to put into words what irked him. "Myungsoo seems too polite."

"Too polite?" Sungjong dropped his chopsticks onto his plate to carry on the conversation. 

"Myungsoo apologizes for a lot of things that aren't really his fault. He's bowing almost every chance he gets. His posture is like a pole, he never slouches. He was trying to hard to be polite even when he was drunk."

Sungjong needed a quick counter. "I mean, what's wrong with a guy who has manners?"

"Nothing. It's just, he's so tense all the time! He needs to relax."

Myungsoo is tense because he doesn't want his cover blown, but how do I explain that? With Myungsoo's extended stay in 2014, there was a higher risk of his secret being revealed. With Dongwoo as another addition to their circle, it was too much of a liability if more people knew.

"All of the wall was knocked down?" Myungsoo asked, pressing his hands against the brick foundation of Namdaemun. The gate in present times was nothing like he knew in the past, which acted as the entrance for a long wall that surrounded Seoul. Even the gateway itself had changed a bit in appearance, with the colors duller than he remembered.

Sungyeol raised his hands to his chin, observing Namdaemun in all of its prestige and beauty. This was a common place for him to pass through on his way to other destinations as the subway was just closeby, but Sungyeol had never visited Namdaemun for fun. It was a lot taller upon close encounter, tingling the senses of a resident history geek. "Yeah. Since I've been living, this had only existed as a gate. This actually caught on fire several years back, and the government restored the whole thing."

"This is not the original?" Myungsoo asked.

"Not even close." Sungyeol brushed his fingers against the rigid brick surface, letting out a sigh. "But how cool would it be if it was? To withstand everything, that would be some feat."

"For people to still be able to witness architecture of the Joseon to this day, like Gyeongbok or Namdaemun, whether it had been rebuilt or not is a feat in itself." Myungsoo was fully impressed by the nation's attempt to preserve the history that built the country 600 years into the future. Myungsoo was prouder than ever to be a Korean and a prince during the Joseon era. He turned to Sungyeol, letting out a faint smile. "Thank you for taking me here. I really appreciate it."

"Of course. Well... since there's no real way for you to trespass this place and steal any precious artifacts it was a safe place to go," Sungyeol winked at Myungsoo. He had never feeling more comfortable being around the prince than he was now. With last night's talk still fresh in his mind, it was Myungsoo that picked him out of the gutter and kept him together in his time of need. Myungsoo showed more loyalty to Sungyeol in their limited time together than many friends who have gone in-and-out of his life. 

Sungjong observed Sungyeol and Myungsoo from the distance, their friendship blossoming into something special since arriving in their apartment jacuzzi. He finally knew how to answer that question. "Myungsoo is a bit of a quiet guy and is going through a lot, so he keeps to himself when he doesn't know someone. For example, Sungyeol and Myungsoo used to have a bit of an awkward relationship. Now, Myungsoo kind of sticks to Sungyeol all the time without even thinking. It was the same way when I first started hanging out with Myungsoo, and also when he first met Dongwoo."

Hoya and Sungjong watched as the two of them rubbed their hands on the foundation, almost as if they were groping something inappropriate. Sunyeol and Myungsoo continued laughing at each other, still somewhat lightheaded and silly from yesterday.

"You see," Sungjong pointed out. "Once you get to know Myungsoo, that's when he lets himself go."

(((())))

As the sun began setting to illustrious colors, Daehyun veered off his responsibility of guarding the palace gates for a break.

Which was more like a chance. A chance to leave the tragedy that was the royal palace.

Daehyun snuck his way outside to the court corral, a relatively large space where horses were bred and kept. Only the best stallions were born and raised at the House of Kim, grown to perfection and top-notch performance. Built with stamina and drive, these horses can travel long distances before depleting any sort of energy. 

There was one specific horse Daehyun sought for. A single horse at the end of the corral, dipping its head into the barrel of water for its share. One of her legs were tied up with a bright shiny cloth. Instead of justing with the other horses within the vicinity, the horse stayed by itself. She was the only horse of the corral of pure white, its mane and tail brushed for the true majesty it was. It was one of the largest horses of them all, elegant in walk and can endure anything thrown at her.

"Kkocheun," Daehyun called out.

Daehyun climbed over the wooden boundary to reach Kkocheun, rubbing her body in circles to greet her.

Kkocheun was Myungsoo's trusty steed. He grew up with Kkocheun since she was born. She was born with an injured leg, which detracted from her interest with other training students like Sunggyu. But Myungsoo was able to find the beauty and passion in her character, choosing her as his companion once his training went under way. Myungsoo spent countless hours at night helping Kkocheun walk. Kkocheun was Myungsoo's precious treasure, and even though she was not the most athletic horse she had the most heart and accomplished everything Myungsoo needed. Their connection was strong, and there was one only person that Kkocheun trusted being around.

"How are you?" Daehyun smiled, with Kkocheun coming to greet him wih a neigh. Since Myungsoo's disappearance, it had been a whole month since anyone showered her in affection. Daehyun was one to spoil her with love, and sometimes snuck in extra food for her to eat. "Did you miss me? Did you miss Myungsoo?"

Kkocheun responded with another neigh, lurching forward try and bite Daehyun's nose.

"Ah!" Daehyun almost fell back, laughing and pointing at the horse. "I am not your dinner! Who has been feeding you lately..." he pet her one more time, taking position to climb on top of her. "We are going for a journey."

"What journey could that be?"

Daehyun turned around to a person standing in the shadows. Staring straight at Daehyun with a fierce look, he wanted to know the matters in which he was here. "Daehyun. You should be taking care of the palace gate, no?"

Daehyun cleared his throat, almost expecting this was going to happen. "Sunggyu."

Sunggyu took a step forward to meet with his guard closer, his hands clasped and curious of the situation. "Is anything wrong that you had to come out here by yourself? It looks like you had the intention of leaving."

Sunggyu's voice was bold, almost demanding. Sunggyu always made himself out to be the most serious and intelligible member of the House of Kim, placing an iron fist down when necessary. Daehyun felt his character was ungenuine, almost of a tryhard. As the story unfolds, Daehyun has grown more suspicious of Sunggyu in each passing day. "I am going to find my best friend because this palace is not doing enough to do so."

Sunggyu raised an eyebrow, baffled by Daehyun's bold moves. "Are you questioning the authority and power of our current court?"

Daehyun knew Sunggyu's way of twisting words, but in return he knew how to respond with an equal amount of brashness. "The search efforts for Myungsoo have been the littlest it can be. For a successful search, we cannot pull back patrol only a week after. We have to venture to the ends of our borders. The House of Kim is in a fragile state, especially with Queen Jinyoung. I need to find him. Not for only her, Moonsoo, us... for our nation."

Sunggyu knew what a proper search entailed. King Bang Sok started retreating forces after lack of clues around the Seoul area, and though other cities in Korea were notified of the Compassionate Prince's disappearance they were not acted upon. Daehyun was right in every way, but Sunggyu was not so sure he wanted to find him. Especially after Naeun's confession. For his own selfish needs, he wanted his cousin out as long as possible. "You return to your regular responsibilties this instance."

"I cannot do that Sunggyu," Daehyun shook his head, taking his stance to climb up. "As a royal guard assigned to Myungsoo, my ultimate duty is to protect him at any costs. I have been neglecting my real duties in this time, and if I was a true guard to the prince I should be on my feet to find him. I must leave."

Just as Daehyun attempted to climb onto Kkocheun, Sunggyu grabbed onto his wrist, fearing the repercussions of finding Myungsoo and pulling him forward to stop him. "You return to your position now or you will get in much trouble."

"I do not understand." Daehyun tried to slap Sunggyu's hand away but Sunggyu was stronger, keeping a firm grip to trap him. "Myungsoo is not only a peer, but he is my best friend and I care about him more than anyone in the world. I need to find him Sunggyu. How can you not understand-"

Sunggyu squeezed his wrist harder, strong enough to break as his ears turned red in anger. "You call me the Crown Prince and you do not disobey orders. Would you like me to report you to my father for treason? Myungsoo betrayed our nation when he killed his father, and now you want to join his ranks? Go to the palace this instance. Daehyun, do not make me do it."

"Go ahead Sunggyu. Tell your father. I do not fear death as long as I have died doing the right thing." Finally, Daehyun slipped his hand out of the way and climbed on top of Kkocheun, kicking her body to start. "Do not talk to me about betrayal Sunggyu when you clearly know what you are doing. There is only one Crown Prince in this nation, and his name is Kim Myungsoo."

With that, Daehyun controlled Kkocheun to start moving, galloping through the corral and jumping over the fencing to wherever Daehyun led her.

Sunggyu ran after Daehyun for a minute until he reached the fence, breathing heavily as he watched him ride into the distance. Hanging his body over the fence in exhaustion, Sunggyu was one step behind his plan.

(((())))

It had been an exhausting day travelling Seoul after an intense night of drinking, which ended with Sungjong falling asleep the second he got home and Myungsoo sleeping early as well out of discipline. Sungyeol stayed in the kitchen past midnight with his glasses on and a mug full of coffee to sip on, breathing in the aroma of richness to wake himself up for the evening. It was another day of research and studying, to which Sungyeol had to finish a full page write-up about Myungsoo's uncle Bang Sok's leadership in comparison to King Myunghae.

After focusing two weeks on King Myunghae, recent assignments targeted his brother. Not to say that Sungyeol disregarded Bang Sok, but he was a player of the House of Kim that was definitely overlooked. Even with Bang Sok acting as Regent during Myunghae's trip to Japan as well as taking over the role of King after Myunghae's death, his contributions to Korea were not so significant. His history book only covered a minimal amount of Bang Sok after assuming position as King, he had to borrow multiple books from the library to further investigate him.

The bathroom door opened with Hoya walking out and shaking his wet hands dry. Before returning to Sungjong's room to sleep, he noticed all the lights on in the kitchen and followed curiously. A studious and determined Sungyeol searched through his books for an inspiration, following the lines with a capped highlighter to carefully read. "You slacked on homework?" Hoya asked.

Sungyeol looked up to see his cousin standing spying on his work. "No I didn't," he snided. Sungyeol slouched down in his seat to kick the chair across from him towards Hoya, inviting him to sit down with him. "Did you pack up yet?"

"Yeah." Hoya grabbed the empty seat and sat down with Sungyeol, not tired enough to go back to sleep. "I wish I could stay longer... I'm considering coming back to Seoul next month."

Sungyeol paused his work and stuck his highlighter into his book to save his spot. "You're gonna visit us again?" he asked. "Are you sure you don't want us going to Busan?"

"No, I like Seoul more," Hoya admitted, grabbing onto one of Sungyeol's library books and flipping through the corners with his thumb. "I felt like this visit was shorter than usual. I barely had time to get to know Myungsoo. Time has been going faster, no?"

"I agree, time went by too fast this weekend," Sungyeol reflected, spending a very little amount of time with Hoya due to the drawbacks of Taeyeon's party. "Hey, you know what? Next time you visit it's your birthday!" Hoya's birthday was about 19 days after Taeyeon's, and Sungyeol always remembered it because other than Sungjong's birthday, it was the period where he spent the most money.

"Then I'll definitely be back here. Probably not the exact weekend, but I'll definitely be back a week or two after my birthday," Hoya grinned, throwing Sungyeol's book back on the table like a frisbee.

The book spun around on the tabletop, bumping into Sungyeol's books and notebook until it stopped right in front of a book that was unlike the other. 

The Science of Time Travel.

Hoya blinked his eyes to make sure the book he was seeing was real, brushing his fingers over the leatherback title to pick up for himself. He chose a random spot in the pages and opened the book to read one of the paragraphs. It was definitely the same book he read a while ago, but for it to be in Sungyeol's possession was peculiar. "Why do you have this book?" Hoya asked.

Sungyeol had completely forgotten the book existed, and it was a good reminder that Hoya was the one who found it. It completely slipped his mind that he was supposed to even ask him for help on time travel. This was Sungyeol's chance. "I've recently taken interest in the subject after I saw a documentary about it," he explained.

"You did?" Hoya almost sounded like a proud parent. "You should have told me! I love talking about the quantum mechanics of time travel. I could explain a lot of things to you. I'm surprised you actually read it, it's pretty difficult to grasp."

Believe me. I didn't understand a single line of that book. "I read a couple of paragraphs here and there to jot down some quotes, but that was it."

Hoya glanced at the book one more time, choosing another page at random to read. "Displaying the four dimensions of the world, the fourth and final one pertains to that of the nature of time with opposing viewpoints of the present and passing time. Man, this book is a great one. I've read it at least twice so far..."

Sungyeol had an opportuity to segway into what he wanted to know. "There is one thing that confuses me about time travel, though."

"What's that?"

Sungyeol could finally address Myungsoo's struggle to go back into the Joseon Dynasty, of course without any mention of him to scare Hoya away. "I've been reading into some things, and is it possible for a portal of time travel to close? Meaning... you use the portal once and after you try again, it no longer works?"

That was a difficult topic to which Hoya wrangled multiple ideas with as well. There were multiple answers to that question, which Hoya had written a thesis on recently. "We can take a look at the relativistic velocity of which a person moves through a reference frame..."

Sungyeol stuck his hand out. "In Korean, please."

Hoya always had the habit of moving into jargon that no one who was not a physics or engineering major could ever understand. "I'm sorry, I'll dumb myself down for you," he chuckled.

"Come on, don't act like that!" Sungyeol took Hoya's insult and snatched his time travelling book back to slap Hoya's shoulder with it.

"Ok I'll stop!" Hoya pleaded, grabbing the book away from Sungyeol and holding it up to protect his face like a shield. "I'm sorry. You aren't dumb." 

"Just continue," Sungyeol rolled his eyes.

Hoya placed the book back on the table, patting it twice before continuing. "There have been theories by physicists that time travel is a one-way. It's based off relativity of time. If two people are running on planes of space, there is a possibility that one person can age faster than the other."

"Do you believe that? Do you believe time travel is only one way?" Sungyeol asked.

"Well, you've heard of what wormholes are right? I believe two-way time travel is a possibility."

Sungyeol considered the word. "I've definitely heard wormhole thrown around before and I've said the word once or twice myself, but I don't feel like I completely understand the concept."

Hoya leaned back in his seat for a long spiel, stretching his arms out to begin. "A wormhole is an entry that takes you into a different moment of time, past or future, where you can go back to your own time the same way you entered. For example, you use point A to travel to a different dimension and time. When you land in this new place, you go through point B. Now in this new plane of space, you should be able to take point B and return back to point A in your time. In that case, this is the possibility of two-way time travel."

Let's make point A the jacuzzi, and point B is the well. "That surprisingly makes sense." Sungyeol took a sip of his coffee and inquired more information. "Is it possible for a wormhole to only work at specific times? For example, time travel can work one day, but another day it can't?"

"Now when you ask that, you explore an idea that has yet to be proven. There are different factors in the quantum universe that need to line up together before crossing the universe to a different time space. For this it is no longer quantum physics that is a deciding factor. Sometimes it's nature itself. For example, for a wormhole to work it might have to be raining. Or maybe for some wormhole, you have to be a specific ethnicity to pass. Sometimes it has to do with a special object, like a sceptor or an article of clothing. It gets a little weird when you move into that realm." Hoya yawned, growing a little tired after speaking about such an extensive topic at a late time of the evening. "You've really done your research about time travel. I'm surprised by how much you know."

Sungyeol shrugged, playing off Myungsoo's arrival into the 21st century and pretending it was only an interest. It was time to connect the dots and figure out the loophole of the appropriate time in which Myungsoo should travel back in time. It was a paltry detail from Hoya, but to Sungyeol it meant everything on his personal mission and promise to get Myungsoo back. "You talk about it so much, and after I saw that movie on it, I really started taking notice to the subject. Physics really is a lot more interesting than I expected."

"It really is, but I think I'm done talking about it for the rest of the evening." Hoya grew restless, getting up from the dining table and scratching his eyes to keep himself awake for the walk back to Sungjong's room. "This has been a very good discussion. After I leave tomorrow, you can call me about it if you want. Or when I come visit next month, you can ask me more questions as well."

Hoya was able to explain time travel in simple detail, and with his new knowledge he could move forward in Sungyeol mission to bring Myungsoo back. How will this jacuzzi mystery be solved? For now, Sungyeol had to return back to his regular college studies. But before he could move on he had a quick question.

"Have you ever travelled back in time?" Sungyeol joked.

Hoya turned his head before leaving to Sungjong's bedroom, catching Sungyeol at the corner of his eye. "I've travelled at least 20 times in my life," Hoya laughed. "Goodnight Sungyeol."

How will Sungyeol take this information and use it to get Myungsoo back to Joseon? Daehyun is making his way to search for Myungsoo, but will he find the well? Is Hoya gonna find out about Myungsoo? SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS!

That you will have to find out for yourself ;D

I realize this may be the longest story I've ever written on AFF... 25 chapters is my minimum, but so far it's looking it will go on to 28.

Also, you may think you know what's gonna happen next, but you really don't... (unless somehow you have spied into my life and know everything XDDD) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!