There were old artifacts everywhere. I was literally surrounded by them. I looked over to my left and there was a dirty cheopji, then I looked to my right and there was a royal hanbok. I looked in front of me and there was a painting of some old king. History was never really my favorite subject.

"Class, if you walk into this room, you'll see everything there is to know about King Park Chanyeol and his rule. He was one of the best kings in the Joseon era. Very wise and kind to his people and his nation." Our teacher looked up at the portrait of the king. He had an oval head with a sharp chin and a very admirable face. He looked trustworthy, like a person you could see and eventually spill all of your secrets to within a couple hours of talking. He was dressed in bright red cloth with intricate designs made of gold, the common clothing for royalty.

"And here is Queen Han Chunja. Her story is somewhat . . . disturbing." He paused and searched the picture with critical eyes. "Only after a year of marriage, she went missing. People thought she was murdered. Some thought she killed herself and the palace was trying to cover it up. Some thought she simply ran away because her father made her marry the King though she loved a nobleman. Then she reappeared for a short period of time. The public loved her and thought her to be the kindest queen, until she disappeared again. After that, she was never seen. No one knows what truly happened to her. The mystery is still alive."

My peers nodded and exclaimed sounds of interest like "Ooh" and "Wah".

Then someone called out something that had me choking on my own spit. Literally.

"Hey! Han Soojin looks just like Queen Han Chunja. They even have the same last name."

I coughed and someone pat me on the back with concern.

My teacher looked from me to the queen and his eyes widened. "My goodness. They look exactly alike."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. How could I look like a queen from hundreds of years ago?

I snuck a glance at the portrait of her and I was struck with shock. We had the same wide eyes, the same black hair, the same button nose, the same round face, the same squishable cheeks, the same softly shaped lips, the same rounded chin. Even our ears looked about the same.

I shook my head despite the evidence staring straight at me. Her brown eyes seemed to spear themselves into my soul. I looked away and tried to catch my breath.

"Come on students, let's keep looking." The teacher glanced at me with worried eyes, but led the group to another exhibit. I followed eagerly, ready to steer their attention to another set of history.

Hyejin hung back from the group so she could stand beside me and, of course, throw questions at me like rapid fire. "Did you know you look like her? Since when? Do you think you were her in your past life? Is that why Junho might like you? What if the same fate that she had is destined upon you? Did you know about this? Soojin."

I blinked at her. "Wh-what?"

She sighed and stopped me, stepping in my way so I couldn't keep walking. She looked me in my eyes, ignoring a piece of her brown hair when it fell into her eyes. "Did you know you look like her?"

I laughed, but not the laugh derived from amusement. It was more of the this-is-so-ridiculous-that-I-don't-know-what-to-do-so-I'll-laugh laugh. It was a fake laugh, and she could tell. She gave me a look and I shrugged. "I don't know! I've never even heard of her before so how would I know that I look like her. It's not like it's me. It's not a big deal." I said this with a strong hope in my heart that everyone would forget it. It was spooky enough to know that a woman who lived 450 years ago looked like me, I didn't need a whole class to continue to speak of it.

"Soojin. You need to give me answers."

"I can't give what I don't have, Hyejin-ah."

"But--"

"There is nothing else to it. Please just let it go. I'm trying to process it right now. It's not a big deal, okay?"

She looked disappointed, but nodded slowly. She was trying to understand, but knowing her persistence made my skin itch. I knew this won't be the end to the subject. Not even close.

The rest of the field trip went by quickly, mostly because I was so caught up in my thoughts. Even though it shouldn't have bothered me that much, I felt like the thought was a chopstick repeatedly poking at the folds of my brain. It wouldn't leave me, even as we were getting ready to exit the museum.

And that's when the idea came to me. I told Hyejin to go without me and I'd meet her on the bus. She tried to question me, as she always does, but I ran away from the group without listening to her protests.

I ran up the stairs and into the small room dedicated to King Park Chanyeol and his glorious (and breathtakingly beautiful, may I add) Queen, Han Chunja. I looked around the room, staring at her portrait the longest, before preparing to leave. I didn't know why I wanted to visit the room once more. Maybe because I thought her portrait might have changed within the last couple of hours. Maybe I thought I had seen wrong along with everyone in my class. Or maybe it excited me, to look so much like a beloveld, mysterious queen from the Joseon era. I'm not really sure.

As I was walking out of the doorway, I glanced back once more and a coin caught the lighting on the ceiling just right, making it sparkle. The reflection hit my eye and I looked away, then looked back. I slowly walked up to it.

It was a dirty, old coin that was glued to the mantel piece telling about it. It was described as a coin found in the queen's chambers, however it was only rumored and not confirmed. There was no casing around it, leaving it free for public hands to touch. There was a long, red stripe down the coin, like paint had spilled on it. I slowly reached my hand out and grazed the coin, wanting to feel the dried paint, but it didn't feel like dried paint. There was no difference in texture or slight bump dictating what was paint and what was metal.

I cocked my head to the right with confusion and leaned in closer to the coin. I wiped it with my left thumb and everything went black.

There's my first chapter! Not uber exciting, but just enough, I think.

Please comment feedback and tell me how you feel, I want to hear it all! :D

Thank you for reading!

By the way, the picture is not mine and I DO NOT claim to own it, I just absolutely love it because it fits the story perfectly and it's amazingly done!