the first thing the young man awoke to, was his sister staring at him with enlarged, confused eyes. she looked him over, observing every inch of him, and once his memories finally caught up to him, he gasped and hugged the shorter woman.
"i thought you died," he murmurs into her hair, nuzzling his face into her neck in relief. but as he pulls away, he raises an eyebrow at the familiar clothes she wore.
both of them look around, eyes narrowing in utter confusion. they hadn't seen the study in so long, they almost forgot how homely it was for them. the young man, yongmin, let his eyes and hands glaze over the different books and papers that had been strewn about, when his thoughts came to him and he turned to his older sister.
"rin."
her head turns to him, a calculating glint he was familiar with shining in her gaze, one that he matched.
"this was when we took that photo. how are we..."
he shrugs, going to look back at the calendar on the desk nearby, when his gaze caught on something strange. it was an opening, but weird light was coming through it, along with what sounded similar to yelling and banging.
the siblings share another glance, nodding, then move towards the opening to see what was going on. their eyes widen to see figures on the other side of the opening, two of them in glass boxes. one was yelling while the other banged on his glass box ferociously, it unfortunately not doing anything to it.
"ah, looks like these are some lively ones."
all heads snap towards the new voice, seeing three elderly men staring around the room that the men in boxes were in. both siblings narrow their eyes at the men, not trusting them.
they were weirdly dressed, that was for sure. two were tall while the other was short; two were caucasian while the other was of african heritage, but they all seemed like americans.
the taller caucasian smiles, looking between the trapped figures and the opening where the siblings stood, glaring in confusion.
"now, we know this is very strange, but we'd like to give you all the rundown of this place. can you understand english?"
the trapped ones didn't say anything, just giving confused looks, but the siblings share another nod.
"we do," harin states in english, only a slight accent to her words, and the three old men snap their attention to the two of them. their eyes widen, the black man saying out loud, "well, that's a new one."
"anyways," the supposed ringleader of the trio says, bringing the attention back to him, and he smiles at the siblings. "i am cecil, and these are my buddies reginald and gus. we are the night guards of the natural history museum, where you all are now exhibits. to explain how, is that many years ago, the pharoh ahkmenrah arrived here with his magic tablet, and that night, all the exhibits came to life. you guys are new, so please introduce yourselves."
yongmin took a moment to relay the information to the surprisingly quiet men in the glass boxes, before his eyes widened once getting a good look at them.
"rin! rin, it's them!"
her attention snaps to the two, eyes widening and jaw dropping at the sight of the confused duo.
"you two are the prince siwoo and daehyun, correct?"
the trapped duo share looks before nodding at the siblings, and they both gasp loudly in astonishment.
"so, you're saying that all the exhibits in this museum come to life at night because of this tablet thing? not just modern exhibits or anything of whatever time we're in?" yongmin asks the old men, his words holding no accent, but his eyes were broad with wonder.
cecil chuckles, about to respond, but he was cut off by the short man, apparently named gus.
"yeah, cupcake. but get used to staying there, because you can't leave your portrait, and if the others somehow get out of their boxes and leave the museum and sunrise hits, they'll be dead as roadkill."
harin relays the information to the lost lovers, but then frowns in uncertainty. "what do you mean by that?"
reginald picks up to answer her. "what he means, is that if you somehow leave the museum and you're out when sunrise comes, then you'll turn to dust. the tablet only keeps you alive while it's nighttime, but when morning comes..."
"you go back to what you are," cecil finishes, smiling weirdly and unnerving the occupants of the room. the prince looks to them for a translation, which the woman gives hesitantly, and both males yell in frustration.
"well, seeing as they're all basically stuck as they are, i don't think we need to lock them up," the dark skinned man states, gazing around at them all, and his companions let out sighs of relief. the taller caucasian man waves with his weird smile as they walk out, and gus sends them all smug looks, especially to the two lovers that were trapped.
once the old men had left, the siblings turned back to the two men, eyes wide once again.
"you two are the ones we researched for years! this tablet they speak of, it's remarkable! bringing inanimate historical figures to life at night is just... amazing!"
the two men smile weirdly at him, then look back at each other.
"are you alright, my love?" daehyun questions, his hand pressing against the glass as he worriedly looks at the prince across from him. siwoo gives him a sad but reassuring smile, his own hand now against the glass.
"not entirely, but with you here, i am much better." he turns his attention to the siblings who were trying to mind their own business in the portrait.
"you two."
they startle slightly, harin asking, "yes?"
"have you tried leaving your... picture? maybe those old men don't know for sure if you can leave or not," the prince suggests, making the two look at each other. but then yongmin shrugs and steps towards the opening in the frame, ready to take a chance.
"you sure about this, min?"
"if it doesn't work, then you can tell me off for it," he states casually, then hesitantly reaches an arm out to see if it would work. the group watch with bated breath as yongmin's hand neared closer and closer, before finally breaking through the opening, making them all gasp.
"you actually..." daehyun trails off, a look of awe on his face that his lover was matching. grinning, yongmin steps through the frame, and after he had put his whole body through it, he relished in the cool air that was in the room around him.
"rin, come on!"
"i'm coming, you dork!" she exclaims with a laugh, quickly following her brother through and looking around with him. but after a few moments, his eyes went wide and he rushed over to the glass boxes holding the lovers, trying to find a way to get them out.
"you won't be able to get them out."
the group of four look towards the new voice, eyes widening upon seeing the stone nine-tail statue staring at them with dark, mysterious eyes.
"you can...?"
"yes. like the guards said, the tablet brings everything to life at night. but, as i said, you won't be able to get them out. i was conscious during the day, somehow, and the workers locked those things tight. only the guards have the keys," the fox states, its feminine voice more apparent the more it spoke.
groaning, yongmin backs away from the locks, smiling sadly at the prince and warrior pair. "sorry that i can't help you out. it looks like you'll be stuck until rin and i find a way to get those keys."
daehyun gives the siblings an odd look. "you two never introduced yourselves. you know who we are, but we don't know your names. or yours," he adds at the end, gesturing to the observing nine-tailed fox.
harin smiles sheepishly. "ah, right. well, i'm ahn harin, and this is my little brother, ahn yongmin. we were researchers, researching you two, actually."
the fox cocks it's stone head to the side in curiosity, asking, "were?"
dark looks form on their faces before yongmin speaks up.
"we were killed in the war. the second world war, to be exact."
the atmosphere had darkened with the siblings' mood, and the two men give a sad look to the two. "i apologize for bringing up the bad memories," the fox apologizes, stepping off her pedestal.
in a flash of light, the four were staring at a young woman with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing thin garments as she smiles both sadly and sheepishly at them all.
"i apologize, i was waiting for a proper time. i am gumiho, and it's a pleasure to meet you all. could you two please introduce yourselves as well?" the lovers look at each other before shrugging, the warrior speaking up first.
"i'm daehyun. when i was alive, i was one of prince siwoo's protectors."
siwoo smiles softly at the younger man, then turns to gumiho and says, "i am siwoo. daehyun, you're not my protector anymore. rank does not matter in this new situation we are in."
harin chuckles at the embarrassed warrior, who was giving his lover a slight glare.
the rest of the night passed by in what felt like moments for the group of new exhibits. they heard yelling and cries from others outside of their exhibit, but didn't once move to leave theirs, instead getting to know each other better seeing as they'd likely be in the museum for a long time. but thankfully, the guards wouldn't be much of a problem aside from getting the keys.
they didn't know that the ahn siblings could leave their picture, and they didn't seem to know that gumiho was sentient and could shapeshift. it was likely that other exhibits like her, that weren't actual humans would be awakened by the tablet in this place, but they couldn't risk the old men finding out.
a strange feeling arose within them all, and harin took a glance out of the nearby window to see that the sun was rising.
"looks like our time is up for now. maybe we can start plotting against those old men tomorrow night," she suggests, sending a hopeful smile to the other two free exhibits, who smile wide and then glance at the locked up historical figures.
"definitely. until tomorrow."
the words echoed out in the room from the others as gumiho shifted back into her stationary form and the siblings re-entered their picture.
and the first chapter is out! i honestly really enjoy this story, but i procrastinate writing it because i'm better at working my character into the story rather than writing their own story before the plot of the original work takes place. but honestly, i'm really happy that this one is finally going to happen, and i'm really excited to write about my characters.
i hope this was enjoyable and that you like the story!