I didn't want to have a death that was as meaningless as my life.
The cold and heavy feeling of the lake water suddenly subsided to a void of darkness. People were always saying that at the end of life you'd see a bright white light but for me it must have been this black whole of nothing.
No.. there was something else there. A speck of light in the darkness! It was like bright star expanded appeared right infront of my body and pulled me in like a raging rapid.
The sensation of water was different there, I had never experienced a feeling like this.
In the next moment I broke through another water surface and my lungs filled with the warm air so drastically that it hurt. My whole body was shaking, I was vomiting water and at the same time I was still feeling like he was still suffocating.
What had just happend?! I thought of a hundred ways he could have survived this but nothing made any sense.
After regaining my breath, I was finally able to open my eyes and adjust to the sunlight.
That's when reality hit me and I started laughing at my own delusion. Of course I wasn't alive... or else I wouldn't be standing in this large ancient looking hot spring.
I grinned at myself when I realised I was wearing commoner clothing like portrayed in one of those history books. Additionally, this bathing area was filled with beautiful flowers and it was positioned right next to an open building with stairs leading to its perfectly polished floor. The setting red sun was painting the whole area in beautiful colors of red and orange and opposite to the air in Seoul, it felt clear and refreshing.
"So this really is heaven, huh?" I closed my eyes and reached out my arms to both sides before turning around to inspect what was behind me.
That was the moment when I realized that I wasn't alone.
6 women were sitting in there... each of them naked and covering their front in total horror. It wasn't like I didn't see a naked woman before but it still left me in shock.
What was this? They surely didn't reward me in heaven by giving him beautiful women although I was gay, right?
And also... why did they seem to be scared of me? Was this a test?
After having stared for too long one of the girls started screaming so I quickly covered my eyes with my hands and tried to calm them down somehow.
"I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look! I don't even know how I got in here!" I tried defending myself with the truth but either way I ended up becoming the target of an intimidating soldier that suddenly showed up from the inside of the building.
"HEY YOU! HOW DARE YOU INVADING THE ROYAL LADYS BATH?!" His deep and threatening voice made me tremble in fear when he approached rapidly with his sword pointing right at me.
There was nothing to think about now. I needed to run... no matter if this was heaven or hell, I didn't want to be sliced apart by a soldier of ancient times.
Excusing myself once again I stumbled past the ladies and jumped over a few rocks that were shielding the hot spring from the outside view. Close by there was a large forest that seemed to be surrounding the whole area. Where the hell was I!? Was this really the afterlife? How come I felt exhaustion and pain from hitting my ellbow on a rock then?
However, I was not given time to think about that now because if I didn't keep running the guard would catch me.
To my advantage I didn't wear a heavy armor but a dirty white shirt, brown trousers that seemed to be made out of leather and some shoes of the same material so I was way faster than the man. Soon he had lost sight of me and I made sure to hide in a tree for enough time to make sure he was definitely gone.
Not much later I reached a small river and scanned my surroundings once again. Nothing of this was familiar. Not even the sunset felt the same so I decided to cross the river and walk until I'd arrive at place that could give me answers.
"Where the hell-?" I asked myself again but I wasn't to finish my sentence because all of a sudden I lost my balance on a slippery rock and fell. The last thing I felt was hitting my head hardly before I lost consciousness right in the middle of crossing that river.
The trigger for waking up from this dangerous accident was a warm hand that touched my forehead.
Everything was already totally out of order so I didn't bother moving at first when I saw a blackhaired guy leaning over my face, concern showing in his expression. More people? Was all of this just in my head? Or were these people dead too?
More importantly, I had switched location again... this time I was in a dark room with just a few candles creating enough light to see.
Neither did I know where I was now, nor if this guy was a friend or an enemy.
I sat up from the uncomfortable sort of bed that I had been lying on just now and slapped the guys hand away more roughly than I intended to.
"Who are you? And were am I?!" I asked him and grabbed the collar of his shirt causing the guy to tilt his head in confusion.
"Jisung? Don't you remember me? I'm Changbin, Seo Changbin, your friend, the 2nd prince's personal guard and servant. Stop joking around and better tell me why you thought it would be a good idea to peak at the bathing princesses?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion and I didn't like how I was suddenly portrayed as a pervert. Still, I let go of him and inspected this 'friend' of mine closer. There was no doubt that I had never seen him before and neither did I know anything about a 2nd prince...
"I don't know a Seo Changbin and I still don't know where the hell I am. If this is the afterlife, then why do I have to deal with this?" I asked him again.
The black haired man stood up and I followed his exemple. He was actully slighly smaller than me despite his built physic. I wouldn't want do start a fight with him.
"Jisung..." he sighed.
"I know you love joking around but this is serious."
"Do you think this is some kind of prank?!" I slowly lost my patience with this whole situation and things didn't get better when that guy called Changbin didn't even understand my words.
"What is a pr- prank?"
Before I could answer his question suddenly the door to the this room was opened and another man stepped in. Different to Seo Changbin's leather armor and plain black clothing this person was wearing a blue robe with golden engravings on it. His hands were in his back making the rather young man looking older than he probably was.
Changbin immediatly got on his knees and startled me with that sudden action.
"My prince, I excuse myself for the noise. I didn't intend to disrupt your sleep."
The prince turned around to Changbin facing him with an amused look.
"... how often did I tell you that you don't have to kneel everytime I enter a room. And call me Chan... this is an order."
Changbin got up from the floor awkwardly scratching his neck while grinning at the guy whose name was apparently Chan. So this was the 2nd Prince that he had been talking about...
"My apologies, but it's not a simple task for me to drop formalities." Changbin explained while I was still watching as if this was some kind of drama. This was too much. I wouldn't be commanded around here and neither could I endure not being told anything any longer so I walked over to that prince and cleared my throat.
"I have no idea who you strange guys are and this is definitely not the afterlife so would you please tell me where the next street is that I can call a cab?" I demanded of him just hoping that someone was playing a big joke on me here.
But Chan turned around to me with a startled expression on his face before the shorter guy stepped in to explain.
"I found him near the river and he hurt his head. After he woke up there was only nonsense coming out of his mouth. He might be suffering from amnesia."
"Are you kidding me? My name is Han Jisung, I'm 19 years old and I lived in Seoul all my life. Does this sound like I lost my memory?"
I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrow at the prince and his guard but he just took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Oh dear gods, I think he's crazy now too" Chan sighed and held his head.
"ME?! CRAZY? HAVE YOU EVEN LOOKED AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR?" The frustration had built up so much that I was straightup yelling at them. My life was shit and now that I almost drowned, as a thank you I was caught here with crazy weirdos!
Suddenly, Chan grabbed me by my collar and pushed me against the wall where he pressed his hand on my mouth. A sharp pain was coming from the back of my head.
"Listen Jisung! I took you in after your cousin died and you were about to starve to death. I gave you food, clothes, an own room, I almost treated you like a prince and you've always been a nice and quiet boy. If you don't behave in my area of the palace I'm forced to throw you out into the woods where you'll die on your own... so please... even if you don't remember us. Try to be cooperative for the sake of your own life."
His ocean blue eyes felt like they were drilling holes into my mine and slowly I started forcing myself to accept these circumstances for the time being.
He let go of me immediately after that and turned around to Changbin again.
"Was that really necessary? You scared the hell out of him..." he complained little but Chan shook his head.
"Whether or not he has lost his memory, we can't have him causing a commotion. He needs to get back to the bottom of reality first and of he doesn't want to listen, you just gotta speak louder."
I still puzzled by the olders lecture that had felt like a slap across the face. So they were both assured that I was the one in the wrong... that I was the one who was insane.
"What's the date of today?" I breathlessly whispered making both of them focus on me once again before Changbin answered.
"The 29th of August... year 1019."
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Spoiler: This world is a parallel universe. It's not the same year 1019 as in our time-line