A loud yell woke you in the dark. Gasping, you sat up. *I need to help!*

No sooner had you thought those words than you saw a glowing portal open in the air in front of you. Instead of the castle you saw a grassy field, with the sun rising over the plants. 

“Hey! Can anyone help us?! HELP!” The voices seemed to be coming from the portal. Taking a deep breath to calm yourself, you walked towards the portal… and into another place.

The voices belonged to two young men who wore traditional Korean clothing. They looked at you strangely. 

“Where did you come from?” the youngest-looking one asked. He shook his head impatiently. “Never mind. I’m Niel, this is my brother L. Joe. Please, you have to help our oldest brother!” They ran through the fields, and you followed quickly behind.

The boys stopped behind a building and pointed to the ground. You immediately assessed the situation. A blonde-haired young man lay groaning underneath a large and heavy wagon. It had somehow come loose and trapped his leg beneath it, pinning him to the ground. He too wore traditional clothing, but you quickly put this out of your mind. 

“He was trying to load the wagon,” L. Joe said. “But it wasn’t stored correctly and it fell on him, and mother and father are away at market. The cart’s too heavy to lift, even for the both of us. Ah, please help our brother, Chunji!”

You looked at the two young men. “I need a lever. Something to help move this cart. Anything, a strong piece of wood, a metal bar…”

Niel ran to fetch a sturdy length of wood and handed it to you. Slowly, you eased the wood under the cart and stuck a rock underneath the wood to act as a balance.

“Alright,” you told L. Joe, “While I push down on this wood and prop the wagon up, pull your brother out from underneath it.”

Straining, you pushed down on the lever enough that the wagon lifted a few inches. Niel helped you as well. Quickly L. Joe darted forward and pulled Chunji out from under the cart, although he cried out in pain.

You and Niel released the lever, and the wagon fell back down. “Is he alright?”

L. Joe smiled happily. “His leg is greatly injured, but he is alive! We cannot thank you enough, kind stranger!”

You looked at Chunji’s’s leg. There was a gash where the wood had cut deep into it. “He’s not safe yet. The wood is unclean, so he might have gotten infected.” You tried to remember what you learned in first aid class about dealing with wounds. “Get me a cleaned cloth, hot water, and whatever medicines you have available. We have to treat his wound quickly."

Niel and L. Joe soon returned with the items you asked for.

Niel gave you the cloth and hot water in a bowl, but L. Joe only gave you a handful of plants.

“What? I thought I asked for medicines!” you said. “Don’t have have any aspirin, or sanitizer, or painkiller pills?”

L. Joe just gave you a blank look and handed you the plants. “THESE are our medicines! Look, wormwood, ginseng, aloe… They’re healing herbs.” 

Niel stared at you. "You act like you’ve never used these things before…”

“I haven’t,” you replied. Sighing, you took the plants from L. Joe. You worked throughout the day, first sterilizing Chunji’s gash with the hot water, then applying the healing herbs and tying everything together with the bandage. The young man had lost consciousness from lack of blood, but you were certain he would wake up soon.

Tired, you looked around at your surroundings. It was already dark out. Niel came out. “Thank you for helping our hyung. Please, rest a here a while.” He led you to the main house and showed you to your room. Exhausted, you lay down and immediately fell asleep.

The next morning, you woke up and got a good look at your surroundings. You seemed to be on a farm, somewhere in Korea by what the three boys were wearing. 

Walking towards the eating area, you heard voices. 

“Hyung, she’s so pretty!” That was L. Joe speaking.

“And she knows how to heal, too!” Niel added.

A new voice laughed. “ It sounds like you guys like her a lot! I owe her, for saving me. I hope she stays a while.”

As you walked in, three faces smiled brightly at you. You blushed. They were indeed a very good-looking set of brothers.

They sat at the table, eating breakfast. “We owe you much for helping me,” Chunji said warmly. He was handsome, with a kind smile and sparkling black eyes. Dark blonde hair fell over his forehead as he smiled charmingly at you.

“Please, can I have a phone?” you asked. “I need to call my aunt and find some way to get home.”

Niel gave you a blank stare. “Phone? What’s a phone?”

“You keep talking about these strange things,” L. Joe added.

“Oh….oh, no.” It finally dawned on you that perhaps you had traveled somewhere very far away, indeed…”What year is it?”

Chunji looked at you curiously. “It is the year one thousand, seven hundred and eighty one, during the Chosun Dynasty. King Jeongjo is our ruler.”

“1781?” you whispered to yourself. “I must have gone back in time! But... how am I going to get back home?” 

Because you had no idea how to work the portal that took you to Chunji and out of your own time, you remained with the three brothers and their parents for months. They accepted you and were very grateful that you had saved the eldest son. You learned how to work on a farm. Chunji was very kind to you, and you had the strangest feeling that he was falling in love with you. He took time out of his busy day to greet you, and always seemed to have time to talk to you or answer any questions with a smile on his face. You loved it best when he sang, because his voice was so amazing that all of his cares flew away and yours did, too. 

One night, you were sitting around the fire as Chunji sang a soft ballad. It was about a man who loved someone, but she didn’t love him back.

He gazed at you as he sang the lyrics: 

“One man loves you 

That man loves you with all his heart 

Everyday like a shadow he follows you around 

When that man smiles he is crying on the inside... 

How much longer 

Do I have to just look at you alone?”

You couldn’t meet his eyes. You enjoyed Chunji’s company very much, but you missed your aunt and your home. Most of all, you missed your mysterious boy, the one you had given your heart to. 

One day, you were staring up at the stars, trying to remember just how you had opened the portal to another time. A soft voice interrupted your thoughts.

“-----------?” It was Chunji. “I must ask you something.”

You nodded to him. “Yes? What is it?”

He hesitated. “I… I know you don’t belong here, with us. Why haven’t you gone back?”

“I can’t,” you told him sadly. “I don’t know how.”

He took a deep breath. “Then… may I make a suggestion? Since you are here, with no way to get back, I think you should accept the fact that you’re going to stay here. Will you- will you marry me?”

You looked at him, stunned.

He continued nervously. “I- I’ve been looking for a wife for some time now, and you are the most anyone could ever want in a wife. You are a healer, who knows how to work hard, and you have the most knowledge of anyone that I’ve ever seen. I’m going to inherit this land after my parents- I would provide for you for the rest of your life. I-I love you. I’d take care of you, always.”

You were still very surprised, but tried to find the right words to express how you felt. “I appreciate the offer, Chunji, I really do, but I don’t belong here. I will find a way to get back home, sooner or later. I… I can’t marry you.”

Chunji bowed his head. “Well, it was worth a shot,” he smiled sadly, then left.

Late that night, you closed your eyes and thought of the young man who had given you your special gift of traveling through time and space. You just wished that he had taught you how to use it. “I don’t even know your name,” you whispered to the air around you. “But it is time for me to leave here. Please, show me how to open the portal.” Strong emotions surged through you in your need to leave. A tear fell from your eye and rolled down your cheek. Before it hit the ground, there was a WHOOSH. To your amazement, a portal opened in front of you.

You breathed deeply, whispered a goodbye to Chunji, and walked through the portal, never to be seen by him again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stars glittered in the sky above you, as the full moons shone down and illuminated your surroundings. You were on a tall hill, and just below you, you could hear shouts and screams and the clashes of weapons. 

You hesitated… something wasn’t right.

Full MOONS? You looked up and noticed that instead of one pale moon shining down, two large gray orbs hung in the sky. You gasped… this definitely wasn’t Earth anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, how was it? This is the first of your adventures through time and space, and I hope you liked it! Chunji's cover of  "That Man" is quite pretty ^_^  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DlWHXCgaLg

Please comment, readers! And let me know who --------- should meet next :D