Chapter Text
1520 A.D.
The white cloth was itchy, but it was worth it. Yeohee’s eyes glanced over her new legs in the reflection of the small mirror, oblivious to the scales slowly creeping up her ankles. It had been a mere three months since she left the ocean and already the sea was tugging her back.
2023
An embrace knocked her down to the floor. She stared, surprise, into black eyes. The stranger’s sharp nose bumped into hers, strands of his slicked back hair hanging down from his face. He looked like -
An ax whizzed by her face. She quickly dove into the nearest set of bushes. A young man burst through the forest, light eclipsing his form. Eyes wild, head tilted back in pure joy.
It’s him. She pushed him back. Gumiho.
“Rang.” A man with auburn hair pulled the stranger off her.
“Get off me,” the stranger - Rang - protested. He wore a three piece suit, the fabric similar to the ones she used to sell with the Madam eons ago. Why was he wearing those threads?
The other man grasped Rang’s collar tighter. After a couple of whispered words, the stranger went still. He looked at Yeohee with disbelief, longing in his eyes that Yeohee couldn’t understand.
“You come into my shop and the first thing you do is scare this poor child.” Madam Hyeja came bustling in, her hanbok bustling around her with each step. “Why are you here, Yeon?”
“Well,” the auburn-haired man coughed awkwardly. His eyes flickered to the man now standing silently beside him, whose eyes were still trained on Yeohee. Madam Hyeja almost fell backwards when she saw the additional presence in the room. Yeohee saw the Madam’s eyes flash with recognition.
“Don’t tell me.” The Madam’s eyes widened. “Didn’t he -”
“Yes, but,” the man scratched his head sheepishly. “He’s from 1938.”
1938? Yeohee looked over at Rang. The suit suddenly fit onto his form perfectly. Her eyes caught onto the glinting yellow from his wrist. It’s like his. An aching feeling crossed over her chest.
Splattered blood. Broken limbs. Ashes floating in the air over the ocean.
She shook herself free from the memories, pushing them deep within her mind again.
“Should I get something Madam?” Yeohee stood up from the ground, desperate for something to keep the memories at bay. “You know what, I’ll get the tea just in case.”
Yeohee ran before she could be called back, feeling the stranger’s eyes on her back, heavy every stride she took to run away from her past.
1938
“So who is he?”
“No one,” Yeohee replied quickly, flinching when she dropped another tie from her hands.
“Liar.” Madam Hyeja circled her, mischief glinting in her eyes. The Madam continued to interrogate her, laughing in pure glee at every dropped tie Yeohee could not help leave behind in frustration.
“Is it that young businessman? The one with that gold watch?” She looked away quickly when the Madam came up in front of her.
“Oh my, it is!” The Madam clasped her hands in excitement. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
Yeohee gave up on holding the butterflies trapped in her stomach. Her giddiness poured out in waves as she nodded her head. The Madam shrieked and hugged her.
“I heard he’s a good man.” The Madam clasped her hand with Yeohee’s. Tears shone in her eyes.
“He is,” Yeohee whispered in reply. As if summoned by their whispers, the bell rang as he stepped in, a gray suit and the same gold watch glistening in the light. He smiled as his eyes landed on hers and she couldn’t hold her lips from rising.
The Madam knew now, so why hold it in. She rang to wrap her arms around him, and he caught her in the middle, twirling her around, her own fairytale prince. She wouldn’t have if she could have stayed in that embrace forever, unknowing of the demons lurking beyond the store.