A Twist In Time?

CHAPTER 19

Ha-yoon and Hyun-bae went home and saw Min-young and Hye-ri already fast asleep. They quietly went over to their beds and laid down.

--IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Ha-yoon woke up for a drink of water. She got up sleepily and stretched a little, walking up to the small kitchen. She saw something shiny on the counter and got curious, walking over to it. Her sleepiness left her when she saw a beautiful red crystal along with a note. She picked up the crystal, examining it.

"A ruby?"

She whispered to herself. She took the note, trying to read it in the dimly lit atmosphere. She finally found enough light to read the letter.

Keep it safe. You'll know when to give it and to whom, when the time comes.. 

Signed Anonymous. 

She was creeped out after reading the letter. She decided to keep it a secret about what she found. She kept the crystal in her morning shift dress pocket and folded the note for evidence, placing it in the pocket too.

--THE NEXT MORNING

The girls woke up early because of the morning shift. They got ready and went to the castle. 

On the way, surprisingly or not.. They met Kwang-so and Sung-hoo. Ha-yoon widened her eyes when she saw a pretty blue crystal peek through Sung-hoo's clothes. He must've noticed as he pulled a piece of cloth over the area to cover it up.. He still smiled not to seem suspicious and said,

"Hi! you both must be Min-young and Hye-ri"

Min-young and Hye-ri were confused. They saw the two were well acquainted with Ha-yoon and Hyun-bae.

"Umm Yeah, I'm Hye-ri, this is Min-young"

She pointed to Min-young who smiled and waved. Kwang-so smiled back and Sung-hoo said,

"Well it's nice to meet you both."

They offered walking together to the gates. When they reached, Sung-hoo pulled Ha-yoon and whispered in her ear,

"We need to talk after your shift, meet me near the town market later."

Ha-yoon was flabbergasted yet chose to nod. She smiled and mouthed a small 'bye' running off to catch up with her friends who smirked at her, thinking about something else. She blushed as they did so but ignored them, walking swiftly to the Queen.

On the other hand, Sung-hoo sighed and removed the cloth over the blue crystal. He looked and saw Kwang-so waiting for him. He jogged over and said,

"Okay so back to the forest right?"

Kwang-so nodded and started walking, stating,

"Okay we know I have the power of growing plants. Makes sense since the crystal is green. But for you it is blue and it could either mean Water or sky I don't know."

Sung-hoo nodded understanding. Once they reached the clearing, Sung-hoo held out his hand and thought of water,

'Am I to say abra-ka-dabra or something' he thought, but decided against it. He thought of water but nothing happened. 

He opened his eyes and saw Kwang-so just sitting, zoning out.

"It's not working."

Kwang-so snapped out of his daze and said,

"Try holding it wherever it is and think of water and if it still doesn't work try something else related to blue."

He shrugged. Sung-hoo nodded and did so. He thought of Ice this time and a blast of ice erupted from his fingertips, startling both him and Kwang-so. They saw the few trees in front frozen solid..

--WITH JI-HAN

Ji-han was reliving all his memories of him and Eun-cha, from the day he met her when he was on the streets, bruised up, she walking by and saw him. She lent him a hand, cleaned his wounds, and they became friends. Since he didn't have a home, she brought him to her house. Her parents disapproved but then after they saw Ji-han they changed their minds. 
A few days later, Eun-cha's parents' close friends decided to take him in and thus he found his home. A year later, a younger sister was born and he was truly overjoyed. 

Then came all the moments he and Eun-cha had fought, laughed, ate and played together.

It did bring a smile to his face remembering when he saw she was playing with a dagger and how she cut herself because of her careless-ness, how he bandaged it and how they had to lie about the wound to her grand-mother when she had asked her about it. 

The smile wiped off when he remembered the first time she hugged him. It wasn't the hug that made the smile wipe off, it was the reason for the hug. The very same day, his sister was raped and killed. He was so hurt and guilty about not being able to do anything. He vented out to her that night near their favourite place ; the riverbank. He yelled out all his pent up guilt, frustration & tears and cried into her embrace about how he was just standing there yet he couldn't do anything at ALL to save his now-dead sister. 

Just the thought of it made Ji-han's eyes water. He got up from his bed and decided to go walk on the riverbank.

He took in the surroundings, which was dim yet elegantly lit by the moonlight. The stars shone brightly above his head. He stopped by the stream and saw the reflection of the moon and the sky. He sat down, looking up and admiring the sky. 

Suddenly, he heard a trig break and turned around, calm yet alert. He froze on the spot. 

The person made eye contact with him and swiftly turned around, running.

"EUN-CHA!"

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