Inhyeon was stunned, her teary eyes were locked on Yoongseung, hoping for him to quickly reach out to her as they were falling.

The bell rang again, and to her, it was a fate sealed for her; to die by the fall.

Then she heard a soft whisper;

'Just... Let me save you.'

Inhwa sat up, waking up instantly from her deep sleep.

What was that dream about? Why am I falling? She thought to herself, as she touched her sweaty forehead.

She looked around her, just realizing that she was in her dimly lit room. She glanced at her digital wall clock.

"It's three a.m.?" she sighed, catching her breath.

"You're awake."

Her body jolted at the sight of a familiar face, entering the room with a glass of water.

Someone that she had known ever since they were young. Though he was a few years older than her.

"Ah, Han Seowon! You startled me. What are you doing here anyway?" she asked, taking the glass as he sat next to her on her bed.

"One: You never reply to my messages for three hours. Two: You never answer my calls. Three: A guy answered my tenth call on your phone."

Inhwa almost choked on her drink, as she almost forgot about 'that guy'.

"Where is he?" she coughed out, placing the glass on her bedside table.

"Living room," Seowon said, pointing at the door.

She immediately rose from her bed and left her room towards the living room, and saw Yoongseung sleeping on her sofa, now back in his original outfit.

"Who is he anyway? Why does he wear like an ancient... man?" Seowon suddenly asked as Inhwa sat on the floor by the sofa, watching him breathing steadily as he was sleeping.

"Did you hire him?" he added another question.

Inhwa stared at him with a confused look. "Why would I hire him?"

"You know, to get the vibe of your research."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I found him. From Maseul Lake. He said... that he's King Yoongseung."

The doctor blinked a few times, staring at her and then at the mysterious man, before he said, "We should take him to the hospital."

"Why?" Inhwa asked with confusion.

"He could be a mentally unstable patient. When I came here, he pointed his sword at me. I had to whip out my defense skill and knock him out."

"You hit him?!"

"No! I'm a doctor, so I know the proper way" he sighed, shaking his head as he placed both of his hands on the sides of his waist. "Anyways, I'll be here for a month or two, so expect me to see you every day."

She shrugged and began to walk towards the kitchen area. "Soon you'll move out of Seoul?" she casually asked, picking the mugs and emptying the pot that she had used for the tea earlier into her sink.

Seowon crossed his arms as he leaned against the prep counter and watched her washing the dishes in the sink.

"Nah... The hospital here desperately needs my professional help. It's just that," he explained.

"Just because you're one good-looking doctor, doesn't mean you're a pro."

"What more can I say? People only come to the hospital to see me."

Inhwa snorted as she placed the clean ones onto the drying rack on her side. "Yeah, people. Precisely the chromosome XX kind."

The doctor smirked. "Are you jealous?"

"No, I'm not. Others see you as perfection. But not me, the one that spent my childhood with you."

"You're still a meanie to me."

She placed the last mug onto the rack and washed her hands afterward. She turned to him as she dried her hands with a hanging towel by the drawer's handle.

"See? You're supposed to be all pro and mature now, but you still use the word 'meanie' for me," she giggled, walking past him towards the fridge and opening it.

"You always find things that can make me behave like that."

"Yeah, it's like I got you in my hands, right, Doctor Han Seowon?" she uttered, taking out two beer cans and kicking the fridge door closed with her foot.

Inhwa handed a can to him, and he suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulled her towards him, and turned her around, leaning her against the prep counter where he was leaning earlier.

"Don't make me change the roles here, Miss Song Inhwa," he softly said, almost guttural.

She rolled her eyes and out of nowhere, she pushed her chilled beer can against his cheek, making him jolted away from her with shock, earning a laugh from her.

When suddenly they heard the voice of the king in the living room.

"Inhyeon..." Yoongseung mumbled, slowly opening his eyes before sitting up in a sudden jolt.

"Inhyeon?" The doctor repeated the name as they both turned their heads at him.

Inhwa groaned, making her way towards the now-awakened king, and corrected him, "Inhwa. It's Song Inhwa."

Yoongseung glanced at the doctor. "You..." he began, pointing to Seowon. "You're the village doctor."

Inhwa turned to Seowon. "Oh, have you guys met before?"

But the doctor immediately shook his head. "No, we never met. And... I'm from the big city, so I'm DEFINITELY not a village doctor."

"Doctor Han, Song Inhyeon. You both are from my city," Yoongseung added, pointing at both of them.

"Okay, what is going on here?" Seowon asked, suddenly intrigued about this mystery man.

"You tell me, doctor, it has been like this from the moment I met him," she sighed. "Sir, tell me your name and your address. I'll send you back home."

Yoongseung clicked his tongue and his jaw clenched tight. "I am King Yoongseung, the ruler of Silla from Yeoheung Min Clan! I got pushed into the Maseul Lake by a shaman and she sent me to this world!"

"Seowon-ssi, can you check if someone is still drunk or sober?" Inhwa requested.

But the doctor could only shake his head. "Just by looking at him, I know that he's FULLY sober. But... You too can't just say that... those things he just said-"

"It's fake, right?" she interrupted him. "He's just making it up."

"I was going to say that you should believe it. Because it could be real."

"Oh, not you too," she grunted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Listen to me. Yes, I'm a doctor, I should fully believe in science alone, but I read books."

"Hey, I read books too."

Seowon shook his head. "But you never come across any mystical book, right?"

And she responded with a laugh. "Why would I read such a book?"

"To open your mind," Yoongseung responded as he stood up from the sofa.

Inhwa took a step back, just realizing how tall he was compared to when they first met at Maseul Lake.

"They may sound ridiculous, but spiritual power does exist," the king added.

"If you're really the king, you shouldn't believe all this stuff," Inhwa stated, raising an eyebrow at him.

He squinted his eyes at her. "If you're really a historian, you should know how a shaman family killed my father and my grandfather."

"They died of natural causes. Heart attack," Inhwa claimed with confidence, which soon melted away as he slowly shook his head. She took a quick inhale and stuttered, "H-How did they die then?"

"Mysterious illnesses. Their health was fine before their sudden death," he simply answered.

But she just nodded her head. "Heart attack, it is."

"The royal doctor confirmed it! It wasn't a heart attack!"

"But it was recorded on paper!"

The king then held his hand out to her. "Let me see the paper then."

"But it's in Hanja. Can you even read them?" she scoffed.

"Do you guys use a different system here? I grew up with only Hanja," the king said.

Inhwa looked over to Seowon, and he just shrugged his shoulders. She let out a sigh and walked into her office.

"She's really an expert when it comes to this stuff," the doctor finally spoke. "So... When you say a historical fact that contradicts what she knows..."

"Here it is," Inhwa suddenly said as she walked back into the living room with a file in her hands. "I gathered this report myself. A friend who knows how to read Hanja also helped me."

Yoongseung opened the file and flipped through the pages with unfamiliar letters, then stopped at the scanned print of a manuscript in Hanja.

Inhwa noticed how his eyes lit up at this page and watched as he flipped to the next scanned page, then pointed his finger at a line.

"See here," he began, standing closer to her side as he read it for her: "Mysterious illnesses. No chest pain, no heart attack..."

Inhwa silently gulped, taking a closer look at the ancient letterings, and had just realized that she had been reading it wrong.

"This character said 'heart attack', I didn't know this one," she said, pointing to one of the Hanja characters.

The king scoffed. "Can YOU even read Hanja?"

She suddenly closed the file, snapping at the king before taking it back from him. She hugged the file closer to her chest, pouting her lips. "Shut up. I'm... I'm still learning..."

Seowon looked back and forth at both of them, now realizing how it suddenly turned quiet.

"So... what now?" the doctor asked.

"You said you need my help?" Inhwa suddenly questioned the king. "Why?"

Yoongseung crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you believe that I'm the king?"

"Not fully yet, but... I would like to know more about you."

"The ringing bell you heard? I heard them too. Not everyone can hear it. Only those who are connected. But the thing is..."

He paused for a while and continued. "Song Inhyeon heard it, I heard it. But when I'm here... you heard it..."

Inhwa had to nod, confirming his statement about the mysterious ring. The king stared at her, and only one logical question went through his head:

"Are you somehow related to Song Inhyeon?"

Her eyes lit up as if the name rang in her memory. "Well.... My ancestors... There's one with that name."

"Oh, I never know," Seowon said.

"My family for generations has been known as the scholar family. Song Inhyeon was the only one who couldn't read or write. She learned and taught by listening and talking, others recorded everything she knew."

"What happened to her?"

"Well... She left the big city to start a new life. But then..."

Suddenly Inhwa held her head with her right hand, and her body tilted to one side. And the doctor carefully grabbed her as she tried to steady her stand.

"Inhwa, you're okay?" Seowon asked, his voice filled with concern as the file in her arm fell onto the floor and her whole body was now in his arms, dragging him to the floor.

"My... head," she whispered, before finally losing consciousness.

"Inhwa!"

=====

Inhyeon winced in pain, her hand against her head as she stopped in her steps.

"Inhwa! Get here!"

Inhyeon took a while to turn around to the call, though still not used to the 'new name' the king had told the villagers.

A man grabbed her hand and dragged her around the corner of the path, hiding behind one of the villagers' houses.

He peeked his head out a bit, as she pulled on his sleeve, getting his attention. "Beomseok ah... Why? What is it?" she spoke to him softly.

"That's Shaman Geumdo," Beomseok said, showing her the shaman who had just passed by the path, unaware of their presence.

Inhyeon gripped tight onto his sleeve as the shaman walked further, away from them.

"You need to stay away from her," Beomseok reminded her as he grabbed her hand, taking her in the opposite direction. "I heard that she is looking for someone who has been with the king for the past few days now."

Inhwa furrowed her brows in confusion as she followed his steps, walking back to the town.

"But why me?" she asked.

"Her curse upon the king got connected with you."

Inhyeon suddenly stopped in her tracks, making Beomseok stop too.

"What?" she uttered.

"You told me about the bells you've been hearing with the king. That alone is obvious that she's looking for you," he said, grabbing her hand again and standing closer to her. "Now, you must stay with me. Trust me, I can protect you from her."

***********************************************************

I'VE BEEN AWAY, AND NOW I AM BACK. I WILL SLOWLY REGAIN MY PACE IN UPLOADING (hence I won't promise that my uploads will be frequent), SO THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL HERE WITH ME, I LOVE YOU GUYS  <3

Truly yours, Nana <3