Sungyeol plopped right on top of Myungsoo in a compromising situation; his lips pressed against Myungsoo’s cheeks, their bodies touching, and Sungyeol’s knee straight into Myungsoo’s groin.

“MY SCROTUM… AGAIN!” Myungsoo exclaimed, tearing up as the pain was unbearable.

Sungyeol moved his knee to the side and looked straight down at Myungsoo, his body still on top of the Crown Prince. He took his finger and shoved it in Myungsoo’s face. “You said… you said… Daehyun?!”

Myungsoo squirmed, trying to escape Sungyeol’s bind.  “Get off of me Sungyeol!”

“I read in my history book that you’re engaged to marry Naeun. You even have a kid with her in prison! WHO THE HELL IS DAEHYUN, cause it sure doesn’t sound like Naeun! ”

“Daehyun is my bodyguard and my best friend,” Myungsoo coughed, grabbing onto Sungyeol’s chest to try and push him off.

Sungyeol struggled to talk, resisting any of Myungsoo’s moves to take him off. Sungyeol believed this was a serious issue, especially since he was unaware a Daehyun even existed in Myungsoo’s history. “You know, your love for your friends and family is different from falling in love. Are you sure you’re not confusing the two?”

That was when Myungsoo stopped moving, reflecting on Sungyeol’s explained definition of love and what it meant to him. “I understand. But, that definition of love you gave me? The first person I thought about was… Daehyun.”

Sungyeol stayed silent as Myungsoo explained.

“I always knew I had a special relationship with Daehyun. I have been his friend for who knows, and he takes care of me in my times of need. I have done the same for him, and a lot of artwork and poetry I see reminds me of Daehyun.” Myungsoo gulped as his mouth started to dry thinking about Daehyun. “Yes, I was arranged to marry Naeun because of our families. We would have been an extremely powerful couple of the Royal Court, and Naeun was going to be a great addition to the House of Kim. I cannot understand my feelings… if I was supposed to marry Naeun, then why did your definition of love only remind me of Daehyun?”

Sungyeol considered Myungsoo’s words and felt almost sorry for him. He did not expect such a confession out of Myungsoo, especially after spilling his own feelings to the prince. Their share of emotions was a lot more than Sungyeol wanted for a Saturday night, but it brought to light his own feelings. “That is the unfortunate dilemma with arranged marriages. Plenty of them work very well and end blissfully without any problems. But like any other kind of marriage, it is not immune to the typical drawbacks of love.”

“What do you mean Sungyeol?”

“What I mean is, sometimes you don’t know what your heart wants, and sometimes when people tell you something’s right it clouds your judgment on what you want.” Sungyeol sighed, reflecting on his own relationship and wanting the best to happen for every party involved.

Myungsoo took a deep breath, contemplating his regret for speaking Daehyun’s name. “Am I a bad person?”

Sungyeol shook his head. “Of course not. You should definitely think about this before going back to Joseon. Think about who you really love. I don’t want you, Naeun, Daehyun, or anyone to be unhappy. Love is tricky, but it involves honesty.”

“Hyung, I heard the screaming from outside and I was worried you…”

Sungjong ran straight into Sungyeol’s room after hearing a loud thud and scream from outside. He flung the door open and all the lights, revealing Sungyeol and Myungsoo in a very compromising position as Sungyeol stared straight into Myungsoo’s eyes as Myungsoo kept his hands on Sungyeol’s chest. Sungjong raised his hand to his mouth in utter shock.

When the lights turned around, Sungyeol turned his head to catch Sungjong standing right at the door. Almost immediately, Sungyeol rolled off Myungsoo and put his hands out to stop Sungjong from assuming anything else. “Sungjong, this is not what it looks like-“

“I knew it. I knew it this whole time.” Sungjong let out a smirk and turned the lights back off, leaving his room and slamming the door right behind him. As Sungjong walked back to his room, he erupted in a cackle that could be heard from inside Sungyeol’s room.

(((())))

Sungyeol brought Myungsoo back to his History 31 class. After a very entertaining first day showing Myungsoo Korea University, he hoped that history would not repeat itself for Myungsoo to go into an angry tirade.

“So Sunggyu does like Naeun?” Myungsoo asked. He wore the same Korea University hat that Sungyeol made him have the first time, but this time around he gave Myungsoo a casual yellow button up and jeans to wear. Tight jeans to be exact. Myungsoo continuously touched his crotch every few seconds to stop his pants from bunching up.

Sungyeol grabbed onto Myungsoo’s wrist. “Stop it! I told you that’s weird. You have to get used to it.”

“Going from my loose stockings to this. It is like the pants are choking me down to my pen-“

Sungyeol covered Myungsoo’s mouth before he could speak out loud. “Let’s go sit.” He brought Myungsoo to the same seats that they sat the previous Friday, forcing the prince down to his seat. “Yes by the way. Your cousin does like Naeun, and I have his old diary to prove it.”

“His real diary?”

“Not exactly. All the pages were scanned and put into a new book.” Sungyeol threw his backpack on the table and proceeded to take out his belongings. “This is insane. Your cousin likes Naeun, but he likes her that desperately to kill his own uncle and put you into heaps of trouble? Aish, and you might like your bodyguard… This is really messed up,” he grumbled to himself.

Myungsoo tried to speak, but before he could an unwanted guest joined their conversation.

“Good afternoon classmates.” Sungyeol and Myungsoo turned to find Woohyun standing right by their seats. With a smug look on his face and a dirty smile to show for it, Woohyun blinked his eyes innocently. “How was your weekend?”

“Um. Good?” Sungyeol answered. I hate you Woohyun, get out of here.

“I had a splendid weekend. I went to Namsan Tower,” Woohyun continued.

“Namsan Tower? The place you told me about,” Myungsoo remembered.

“By the way, I wanted to get your name. I always sit in the front of class, so I don’t see the classmates behind me. My name is Nam Woohyun. I am a 3^rd year,” he introduced.

“My name is Tham Thoothyun and I’m a loser…” Sungyeol grumbled to himself.

“I present myself as Kim Myungsoo. And I am…” Myungsoo immediately looked to Sungyeol for help on what to say, especially since Sungyeol and Sungjong are the only two people in existence who know of Myungsoo’s true identity. Sungyeol nodded his head and formed the number 2 with his fingers, discretely showing him under the table. “… I am a 2^nd year,” Myungsoo continued. “You are the ignoramus from last class.”

Sungyeol tensed up hearing the insult, jabbing Myungsoo on his side to stop him from instigating. I know he’s a ing idiot, but you never say that out loud Myungsoo!

Woohyun frowned upon hearing the insult. “I will have you know that I am not an ignoramus. I have been placed on the Dean’s List since I started school here as a freshman and I am active in our History Honor’s Society. Do not doubt my abilities.” Woohyun pointed at Myungsoo’s nose before walking off to the front of the classroom. “You better watch yourself Myungsoo. As for you Sungyeol, I hope you started your term paper.”

And with that, Woohyun made his way to the first row of seats.

“He was trying to threaten me. He almost assaulted me, too,” Myungsoo groaned.

“! We have a term paper!” Sungyeol banged his head on the cold wooden table repeatedly, hoping to ingrain in his head that he was the biggest idiot of them all. “I forgot I had a paper to write! It’s due on Thursday, too.”

“A paper? Like, the cloth used to write on?”

Sungyeol sighed. “I have to write a-“

“I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend as we embark on another journey into the Joseon Dynasty.” Professor Lee walked in followed by a teaching assistant on his tail who was holding a large stack of stapled papers. “I hope that all of you are working on your essays on King Myunghae, and now I have your Goryeo Dynasty midterms back to hand out.”

Great. Thank you Professor Lee for reminding me. “I haven’t even started on my King Myunghae essay. I’ve only been studying, but barely studying the material that actually counts. I need to study his military dominance, not his death...” Sungyeol weaved his fingers through his hair in a panic. His back was sweating as he anticipated a failure in the class.

“You have to write an essay on my father?” Myungsoo wondered.

At that moment, the teaching assistant moves down Sungyeol’s row to pass out midterms. She passed out Sungyeol’s test with an indifferent expression and flipped it over to hide Sungyeol’s overall grade. Sungyeol thanked her before she left as he crumpled the paper in one hand and reluctantly turned it around to check out the grade.

37%.

Myungsoo leaned over to take a look at the test, which had the number 37 written in a bright red ink with many red markings on the first page, bleeding into the next. It piqued Myungsoo’s curiosity what it all meant. “What does a 37 mean?”

Sungyeol banged his head on the table once more and left it there, bringing the test to cover his head in shame of being a terrible student. A failed test, an essay he forgot about. Sungyeol was done with school, done with relationships, and overall done with everything.

“Your essays on King Myunghae are due to be uploaded on the website as well as a hard copy on this desk right at the beginning of class,” Processor Lee reminded.

“What are you going to write about?” Myungsoo wondered.

No response.

“Sungyeol?” Myungsoo poked Sungyeol’s shoulder to get a reaction.

Sungyeol silently weeped under his papers for the agony that was his grades.

(((())))

Myungsoo walked out of the apartment bathroom flustered, sporting a towel on his waist along with a strip of toilet paper wrapped around his wrist. His hair was wet, dripping down his body and soaking the hallway floor as the frenzied prince had no idea what he just did or if he had even taken a shower in the first place. Sungyeol and Sungjong ran the process of showering with Myungsoo several times, and each time since brought a different problem encountered. Myungsoo had wished that his servants were there to clean his body and dry him off. The self-sufficiency of bathing was too much.

Myungsoo turned his head to take a peek into the kitchen, where Sungyeol had isolated himself from everyone. With nothing but the kitchen lights on and a large tray of crushed Starbucks cups, Sungyeol focused his attention to library books he borrowed last Saturday. But instead of helping Myungsoo finally close the mystery, Sungyeol strictly read about Myungsoo’s father, King Myunghae. Sungyeol felt the pressure of needing to do well on his term paper to balance off the atrocious midterm grade.

Instead of going to bother him, Myungsoo felt a strange presence from Sungyeol. He had seen Sungyeol in a multitude of feelings: happy, saddened, excited, surprised, confused. He thought he saw it all, but he never saw Sungyeol stressed. Sungyeol’s hands shook profusely as he suffered the effects of caffeine and lack of sleep to get his essay on King Myunghae’s militaristic strategies started. The fast-paced intensity of college was getting to Sungyeol.

Suddenly, Myungsoo heard a muffled song from down the hallway followed by what felt like an earthquake that erupted in the hallway. Myungsoo made a double take towards Sungyeol, who had earphones in and was unfazed by any of the movement. Myungsoo sensed something was going on and continued down the opposite direction of the hallway towards Sungjong’s room. Sungjong’s door was slightly open with a shining light from inside. Myungsoo leaned his ear closer to the door where he heard the song clearer.

Music is different today.

 Myungsoo listened to the melodies of plenty songs on commercials, TV shows, and other media outlets, but he had never heard a song like this. The instrumentals were nothing like he knew of drums and stringed guitars. It had a repeated beat of a high pitched voice, changing once in a while with someone clapping in the background. Myungsoo tried to watch through the opening a shadow flickered in the light.

“Geunyeowa jjijeo jyeo dallago. Go!”

Suddenly Myungsoo lost all balance and fell right through the door of Sungjong’s room. Myungsoo faceplanted on the ground and right into Sungjong’s dirty boxers.

“Every night, I’ll be wi… MYUNGSOO!” Sungjong stood in the middle of his room staring at his computer monitor rocking his hips side-to-side as Myungsoo barged in unannounced. Sungjong spun around to his surprise and lost control, falling right on the side of this table and to the floor.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye as the music still played on the computer.

A video stream of a female group dancing and shaking their hips to the beat of the song with a white background.

Myungsoo pushed himself off the floor and took a quick glance at Sungjong then at his computer monitor. Myungsoo had never seen anything like that before. “What are you watching?” he asked nonchalantly with Sungjong’s boxers hanging at the side of his mouth.

Sungjong held the back of his head, which was hurting from banging against the bottom of his desk. “Myungsoo, are you ing serious right now?!”

Myungsoo realized after landing on his boxers that they were stuffed in his mouth. He sputtered them out into his hands and handed them back to Sungjong. “I am sorry, here are your boxers.”

“No! That’s not what…” Sungjong quickly got up from the table angrily. “You can’t just go into people’s rooms like that!”

“Oh. I apologize.” Myungsoo bowed to Sungjong before making his way out of Sungjong’s room.

“Wait. Myungsoo, what did you want?” Sungjong asked.

Before Myungsoo could leave, he took notice to Sungjong’s monitor and pointed. “What were you doing?”

“What was I doing?” Sungjong side-eyed his computer monitor as the music video continued. He looked back at Myungsoo embarrassed and stuck his arm out to block the screen, which barely did a thing except block the people’s heads but not their moves. “I… I was dancing,” Sungjong admitted bashfully.

“Dancing?” Myungsoo questioned. “What was the occasion?”

“The occasion?”

“And where is your sword?”

“My sword? Wait.” Sungjong took the mouse and paused the video midway to a dance move as he took a step forward towards Myungsoo. “I told you on the subway now there are ways that music is made without instruments, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, people dance in different ways. People dance for performances, fun, anything,” Sungjong explained. “And I don’t think anyone dances with swords anymore…”

“Geommu is my favorite dance. It was performed for the House during special events. What they did with the swords was all impressive.” Myungsoo imitated a move of the dance with his arms, gracefully spinning around with his leg in the air and swaying his body back and forth to imitate the twirling of the sword.

“Yeah… so that’s not going to fly here,” Sungjong hummed.

Myungsoo froze in the middle of his pose and looked towards Sungjong. “So what dance were you doing?”

“Oh, this?” Sungjong took his mouse and started the video from the beginning. “This is a group called Brown Eyed Girls. This is a song called ‘Abracadabra’.”

“Ab... roo… da… raca… bara?” Myungsoo pronounced.

“Yeah, sure, we’ll go with that.”

Myungsoo scratched his head, hearing beats he had never heard before and seeing outfits that he had never thought imaginable. “I think the women need to put more clothes on,” he complained. “Why do people these days show no respect or manners for themselves? All of you! Sungjong, you walk around your own sometimes with your bare abdomen and chest showing. What would your parents say if they saw you like that?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Sungjong flailed his arms in the air. “Crown Prince, you need to relax. Here.”

Sungjong grabbed onto Myungsoo’s arm and moved him in front of the computer screen. Sungjong took his place right next to Myungsoo and started imitating the dance moves by moving his hips from side-to-side. “This isn’t that bad. Just follow what she’s doing.”

Myungsoo’s knees buckled up and his body grew stiff as he uncomfortably watched Sungjong follow the moves of the women on screen. It was something he had never witnessed in his life, feeling a secondhand embarrassment of trying it out.

“Try it.”

After feeling apprehensive, Myungsoo submitted to Sungjong’s commands and followed. Without consideration of the beat, Myungsoo jumped right into it and shook his hips to his right side. Myungsoo lacked a flow in every following move, moving his hips to the left, and repeating everything just as the song. Every off beat got a sudden of Myungsoo’s body as he tried his hardest to shake his hips like Ga In.

“You’ll get used to it after practice,” Sungjong commented, containing his laughter at the monstrosity of Myungsoo’s dancing.

As Myungsoo struggled to move, he continued talking to Sungjong. “Is this what you do in your room? You dance?”

“I only dance if I like the song. Next time, I can show you a song called ‘Bar Bar Bar’. And if you want a challenge, next week I’ll try to teach you ‘Ring Ding Dong’.”

“Does Sungyeol like dancing?” Myungsoo asked.

“He likes dancing… when Taeyeon is involved.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Sungjong kept the innuendo to himself.

Both of them continued dancing to the song. As the song went on Myungsoo felt more comfortable with his dancing ability and was able to fluidly put in better hip s. In a matter of seconds, Myungsoo was already improving. Dancing in 2014 is nothing like I ever thought. “Your brother should join us.”

“Leave him be. He is trying to finish an essay about your dad that’s due in a couple of days,” Sungjong shrugged. “I guess Sungyeol lost track of time when you travelled through time and forgot about the paper. He needs to do well on this homework assignment, especially because he did not do well on his midterm.”

Myungsoo nodded. “Sungyeol got a 37.”

“A 37!” Sungjong exclaimed. “That , he told me he got a 67. He’s really doing bad then.”

At that moment, “Abracadabra” finished and left Myungsoo and Sungjong with nothing else to dance to.

“Well that’s the end of it,” Sungjong sighed.

The feeling of dancing, especially dancing freely in such a way that was simplistic and easy to understand without training, was a very addictive feeling that Myungsoo did not want to end. It was the most fun Myungsoo had experienced since living in the future.

“Can I… can I dance to that again?”

(((())))

Sungyeol snored obnoxiously loud with his back leaned against the couch and his legs spread apart on the coffee table. His books were placed upside down on the floor and his thigh, and his laptop was closed on his lap as the tiresome Sungyeol yearned for any inkling of rest he could get. After staying up till 4 o’ clock in the morning fleshing out an outline, Sungyeol took a rest in the meantime.

8 o’ clock, and his bedroom door swung open as Myungsoo let out a satisfied yawn from the wonderful sleep he had the night before. He scratched his eye as he walked towards the kitchen and living room, still trying to wake himself up a little more before he had to follow Sungyeol to school. As he walked into the living area, he woke up to the shocking scene of Sungyeol who looked like a wreck.

“Sungyeol?” Myungsoo called out. He walked towards the couch to where Sungyeol was sleeping and started shaking his feet. “Sungyeol!”

“What?!” Sungyeol spazzed on the couch and woke up acting like nothing was going on. He squinted his eyes and was surprised to see Myungsoo standing right above him. “You’re awake early.”

“No it is not. We need to leave for that moving metal vehicle to get to your university. Your first class is coming up soon. You told me yesterday.”

Sungyeol realized he was right. He informed Myungsoo during class that his first class on Tuesday occurred at 9 in the morning. A general education class revolving around the science of making cheese. It was one of the last possible classes Sungyeol could add to his schedule. He took one look at the clock, marking 8:04.

“You did not sleep in your bedroom chambers last night?” Myungsoo wondered as he caught Sungyeol snoring on the couch.

Sungyeol shook his head. “I’ll sleep on the couch if I’m concentrating something for school.”

“I see.” Myungsoo nodded his head in understanding.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower, and then we will leave,” Sungyeol announced.

“Wait, I want to ask you to something.”

“I promise, I will get you back on Saturday once I turn in my paper-“

“About that,” Myungsoo interrupted, picking up Sungyeol’s textbook from his thighs. “I will go back next week.”

Sungyeol raised an eyebrow. It was early in the morning and only the beginning of the week, yet an unsuspecting Tuesday had already brought another interesting turn on the Crown Prince train. “I thought you wanted to leave as soon as possible?”

Myungsoo gripped Sungyeol’s book and shook it in front of him. “This book might have everything you need to know, but it lacks details on my father and his plans.”

Sungyeol was suddenly interested. “Go on.”

“You have helped me a lot reveal the truth about my cousin and will help me even more. My nickname back in my time is called the Compassionate Prince, and when I know that my people, family, friends are suffering, I will do my best to help them. I can help you write an essay about my father and that is my thanks in return for everything you and your brother have done for me. Other than that, I would like to stay in this era longer… because I am having a jovial time being here with the both of you and learning more about the future. I do not believe I will ever get this chance again, and I want to take in all of this before I leave.” Myungsoo spoke it all in under one breath, his tongue strong and confident with every word he said. He closed Sungyeol’s history book and dropped it on the coffee table. “I thought about this last night before I went to sleep.”

Sungyeol snickered. “Did you enjoy hanging out with my brother last night?”

“It was a gracious time without any problems,” Myungsoo grinned.

Sungyeol did not expect Myungsoo to do anything in return, but with careful considerations he realized that having Myungsoo with him could work very well in his favor. He considered a quiz for his history class the following week and how Myungsoo could also help him out with that. It was a win-win situation for everyone. “There is a saying that exists: you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.”

“What does that mean? Are you itchy?”

“Itchy? No. It means cooperation. You will have a good time here in Korea and have the evidence needed to prosecute your cousin in trial, and I will make up my grade for history.  The both of us will benefit from this, and when it’s all over we will both be happy. You’re staying in my room anyways so Sungjong won’t mind another week of you here.” Sungyeol stood up from the couch and stared firmly at Myungsoo to extend his hand. “Take my hand and shake it. It’s a deal.”

Myungsoo stared at Sungyeol’s hands, which were dry and scaly from the amount of pressure he was enduring. The plan executed just as he wanted. He could help Sungyeol, and have more time in modern-day Korea to thrive and learn about a society like no other.

This also gives me time to learn all of those dances from Sungjong.

Myungsoo used both hands to grab onto Sungyeol’s and gently shook them with a gentle bow. "Thank you for your kindness, Sungyeol."

Myungsoo stays longer, Sungyeol hopes to pass his classes, and Sungjong can't stop dancing. What to expect next? The next chapter will be longer because it will delve back into the Joseon era, where Sunggyu and Daehyun will have a conversation of their own. What you can also expect to see in this chapter is Dongwoo's first meeting with Myungsoo, as well as Sungyeol having... you will see! 

Thank you everyone for all of the support for this fanfic through casual reading, subscribing, voting, commenting, everything really! School has been busy but I am still writing no matter what. I love all of you, and I am going to reply to all of your comments between today and tomorrow. Promise! <3