Hae-eun plodded down the street, looking around. She noticed people were staring at her curiously, some stared at her in awe. She glanced around and looked down at herself. She was wearing a white, lacy nightgown that came down to her ankles—her hands also looked considerably skinny! She froze. Huh?

Hae-eun looked around for a mirror or glass window to look at her reflection when she stared at a nearby shop’s window. With trembling hands, the independence fighter brought her hands up to her face. She was so skinny! Her once neat bangs, now poked her light brown eyes. How did she lose so much weight? She swirled around, looking at her strange surroundings. Was this really the same world she was from…? Don’t be ridiculous, it has to be… But where am I…?, her thoughts trailed off as she saw a poster on one of the electrical poles. It read:

“Come join us in celebration for our empire’s 95th anniversary of liberation! Emperor Yi Hyuk will be personally making an appearance! Let’s celebrate together! May the star of the Korean Empire bless you all!”

Hae-eun stepped back. Liberation? 95th anniversary…? What 95th anniversary? Just yesterday, she and her fellow comrades had been fighting off the Japanese Imperial forces in a desperate attempt to survive! Horrified, Hae-eun started to run, she didn’t know where she was going, but she couldn’t bear to be in this unfamiliar place. Her necklace bumped against her skin as she ran towards the only thing she recognized, Gyeongbok Palace.

From a distance, she heard a group of men calling at her to stop. Hae-eun turned to see who was calling out to her and realized it was the guards from that mansion! She quickly dodged in and out of the crowds, getting closer to the palace.

She managed to get considerably close to the palace when Hae-eun stopped to catch a breath. She was hidden in the crowds, that were cheering at someone. Confused, Hae-eun peeked out and gasped in shock. Happy tears rolled down her cheeks as she pushed through the crowd, not losing sight of the man before her.

Dodging out of the crowds, Hae-eun ran up to the man and hugged him, sobbing. She had thought she would never see him again, her fiancé, Yi Woon. The man flinched as he just stood there, bewildered and shocked. He gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away. She stared up at him, confused.

“Woon…? A-Are you okay—" she was cut-off mid-sentence as a tall man with platinum blond hair, grabbed her hand and dragged her away from her fiancé. A swarm of soldiers in elaborate military uniform surrounded the man on the platform as he stared down at her.

“Your Majesty, are you all right?” asked one of the men.

“Woon! Woon…?” she trailed off.

Hae-eun looked at the man who was supposed to be Woon, gaze down at her in confusion as she was dragged away. Why did Woon seem so distant and unlike himself? It was as if he was a stranger to her; his eyes had been filled with apprehension and anger. But why?

Hae-eun tried to fight off the man as he pulled her through the crowds. People stared as she protested against him, wanting to go back to confirm that the man on the podium was indeed, her fiancé. The mysterious blond man shoved her into a black sedan, ordering the driver to leave. Hae-eun struggled to get away, but the man hand-cuffed her wrists to the car’s grab handle. She stared at him in anger, yelling at him to let her go.

He ignored her as he took off the blond wig, revealing a shock of light brown hair. She stared at him in horror as she realized he was leading her back to the mansion she had barely escaped from. The man sighed as Hae-eun started to yell even louder.

“… You do realize yelling like that won’t change anything? It’ll just hurt your throat.” the man said in a calm voice.

“… Let go of me! I’m not going to follow a Japanese traitor! Let me go!” she screamed as she thrashed around.

“A what? You… Never mind. If you can stay quiet for the next three minutes, I’ll tell you what’s happening, all right? Now, stop screaming.” he stuffed his clean handkerchief into her mouth, muffling her screams.

“…!!!”

A few minutes later, they finally made it back to the estate. He uncuffed her before he threw her over his shoulders, as the maids and butler lined up and bowed to him, greeting their employer. He nodded as he made his way inside and up the staircase, all the while with Hae-eun screaming, kicking, and punching him— the handkerchief was long gone.

When the man finally made it to the room Hae-eun was in about an hour ago, he tossed her on the bed and ordered the maids to close the door and leave them. The maids bowed before they carried out his commands. Hae-eun glared at him and stormed towards the doors.

“Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. There are guards outside that door, you won’t be able to get out like you did earlier. Now, please, sit.” the man said as he unbuttoned his black cape before sitting on one of the chairs across the emerald sofa.

“…”

“Miss Min Hae-eun, you were a member of the liberation group, Rose Noble, right? Welcome to the 21st century—the future.” he said as he held up his arms, as if he had just said ‘tada’.

“Who the hell are you?” Hae-eun asked suspiciously, not moving from her spot near the door. The man glanced over at her, his eyes glinting with mystery.

“No, the real question is, who are you?”

**NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.**