.nine.

Minji woke up the next morning, finding that she was still in the Goryeo era. She was certain that maybe if she slept it off, eventually she would be back home in the twenty first century. But that wasn't the case and she was beginning to lose hope. She would have to get used to the fact that she might be stuck there--trapped in a fourteen year old girl's body--possibly for the rest of her life. 

As the previous day, her servants helped her changed clothes, no matter how much she insisted that she was okay on her own. Then she joined her mother and sister in the backyard for breakfast. Her father--or Park Hak Soon's father--was still out of town, per the king's orders. Minji scarfed down her meal quickly, since she had made plans to visit Hajin at the eighth prince's home. Hajin was the only person she remembered from back home, and she was also the only person Minji felt comfortable around. Although, she had to admit she was also growing fond of the fourteenth prince.

She rose from her seat at the table and bid her mother and sister a goodbye. "I'll be back later." she said to them in a rush. "I'm going to visit my friend Hae Soo."

Soon Deok and their mother had no time to say anything else before she was out the door. She didn't exactly know the way to the eighth prince's house. But she had tried to pay attention the previous day when she went with Jung. 

Minji tried to get there walking, taking her time and pondering about things. The last thing she remembered from the present was drowning in the lake and seeing an eclipse when she tried to save Hajin. The mysterious eclipse could have had something to do with them being transported into a past time. Perhaps--Minji thought--she needed an eclipse to happen in  order to get back. But she just couldn't make them happen. 

She was going to have to wait.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a loud yelling. "Hey! Get off the road!" A male voice called to her with annoyance. His yelling was followed by the loud neighing of a horse and hooves scratching against the ground as he came to a stop behind her. The voice sounded familiar, and in his tone was a clear sense of superiority. Like he was entitled to the whole stretch of road if he wanted it. Minji shook her head to clear her thoughts. She hadn't realized that in her daze, she was walking right in the middle of the empty road. Only now there was someone trying to get by.

Turning to face the person, she was met with none other than the tenth prince. Behind him were two palace guards accompanying him on horseback. Prince Eun's eyes quickly narrowed into a glare, and her lips came together to form a tight line. He did the same. They were both clearly displeased to see each other. 

"You again." Minji placed her hands on her hips, rolling her eyes at him.

"Why are you always everywhere I go?" He accused, narrowing his dark eyes at her with suspicion. "Are you following me?"

Minji was quick to respond with a scoff. "I was here first."

"Just get out of my way." He barked an order at her. "I'm trying to get somewhere."

"The road is big enough for all of us, so piss off. Its a free country--" She stopped herself when she thought about what she was going to say as her comeback. She was in Goryeo, which was ruled by King Taejo. Even though her comeback was just a saying, there really was no accuracy behind it. This wasn't a free country. 

Eun was a prince, and he could make her walk through the mud if he wanted to.

With a defeated sigh, she decided not to fight with him any longer. She stepped to the furthest side of the road and shot him a look. "I'll just walk over here. Are you happy now, your majesty?" She mocked at the last bit.

He only nodded with satisfaction that he had gotten her to move, and that she wasn't fighting him like she had done so many times before. He clicked his heels against the horse and continued on his way, taking a relaxed pace that was only a bit quicker than Minji was walking. Minji kept a few steps behind him and his palace guards. 

They had been going for about five minutes when Prince Eun stopped again, tugging on the reigns of his horse. He looked over his shoulder to find Minji a short distance away, walking tiredly in her heavy dress with about ten layers in it. Her hands lifted up the skirt every few seconds, to prevent it from getting dirty with the dust on the road. She then cursed that time period under her breath and wished she could wear a pair or jeans and a shirt. Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead as the sun rose in the sky and the temperature outside got warmer.

Eun turned back only slightly, waiting for her to catch up. When she was close enough, he asked her the question, "Are you headed to my eighth brother's home?"

Minji snapped back. "What do you care?"

He had been momentarily appalled by her words, but soon recovered, as it was something he should have been used to hearing from her. "I was asking because I was going to offer to take you there on my horse." He said in a serious tone. As soon as the words were out, he almost regretted them.

Minji eyed him suspiciously. The light blue fabric of her heavy dress fell from her hands to drag onto the floor. "What's the catch?" She wondered, not trusting him.

"The what?" He asked, confused.

"Nevermind." She heaved a slightly frustrated sigh. As she thought about it, she quickly shook her head. "I'm probably being paranoid. Yeah, if you're headed there too and could take me, that would be nice."

Prince Eun easily jumped down from his horse and called over one of his guards. He then gave him instructions. "Help her climb on." He said and without warning, the guard lifted her off her feet like she was nothing more than a sack of flour. Minji was taken by surprise as he placed her on top of the horse Prince Eun had been riding on. The guard then helped the prince climb back on, and he sat behind her, entrapping her between him and the reigns of the horse. He was so close that she could feel his body heat, and she gulped nervously. But her fingers gripped the horse's mane tightly. 

From behind her, the Prince grinned in amusement. "You don't remember how to ride a horse, do you?"

Minji gave a shake of her head.

-

The horse ride to the eighth prince's house was about ten more minutes from where Eun had offered to take Minji. Though it was made a bit shorter of a distance by Eun making the horse run much faster, just to mess with Minji who was clinging for her life. By the time they arrived, Minji was sitting at a ninety degree angle, trying to wrap her slender arms around the horse's neck. From behind her, Eun laughed in amusement.

He had made a game for himself. How many times could he startle her before they arrived at their destination. When they finally arrived, the color had drained from Minji's face. 

Eun jumped off the horse easily and had one of his guards hold onto it. He had quickly forgotten--or rather chose to ignore--the terrified girl that was still atop the horse. At the entrance of the house was Hajin with her servant Chae Ryung. But Hajin was just the person the tenth prince was looking for. 

One of the guards went to Minji's aid. "Lady Hak Soon." He called to her slowly.

Minji looked up at him to find they were no longer moving. Relief washed over her face as she sat up, and the guards helped her down off the horse. They set her down on her feet and she thanked him, taking a step towards the entrance of the house. She stumbled slightly, almost tripping over her feet. But she had also sworn to herself that she would get her revenge on the tenth prince for finding amusement in her predicament. And for being the reason she was in that predicament in the first place. 

"Were you waiting for me, dear?" The prince greeted Hajin with a confident, yet teasing smile. Meanwhile Hajin immediately gave him the cold shoulder. 

As he climbed the stone steps to reach her, Hajin asked, "Did you come with the King's punishment for me?" She assumed that as the general's daughter, her friend Minji would be getting off without a punishment again, as had happened when they were found in the private baths.

"The king was in a rage when he saw what you and your crazy friend did to this handsome face of mine." He explained to her, touching the bruise that was still fresh and sore. He recalled the memory bitterly. There was a fraction of a second in which he shot the smallest glance towards Minji, his eyes narrowed into a glare. By the horses, Minji was still recovering from her motion sickness. Eun continued, now standing behind her while she faced away from him. "He asked me to beat you immediately." 

When she heard her punishment, she turned to face him with her jaw dropped in surprise. "Why should we be beaten?" She complained, adding an accusation. "You were the one who did wrong first. Oh, you probably left out the part where you were spying on that servant girl."

She crossed her arms over her chest, and Eun did the same.

"Hey wait." He stopped her. "Do you think I would be so petty?"

From her place by the horses, Minji scoffed and rolled her eyes. Now recovered from her motion sickness, she walked over to them and climbed the steps to take Hajin's side. 

"I begged the king to forgive you." Eun assured, once again completely ignoring Minji and keeping his gaze on Hajin. "You should be thankful."

Hajin sighed, again shooting him a suspicious look. "I don't know why you're suddenly being so generous. I guess I'm thankful. But now I'll go. Come on, Minji." She took her friend by the hand and dragged her towards the entrance of the house.

The Prince rushed to stop them, blocking their way. "Hey, wait. I have something to say to you."

The two girls watched him expectantly. 

"Well..." He began, but stopped himself when he saw so many witnesses standing there. He quickly wished Chae Ryung away, which the servant obeyed with a bow of her head, and he wished his palace guards away as well. The last person he asked to leave was Minji, but Hajin insisted that she wanted her friend to stay with her. He didn't insist any further and took a few moments of hesitance before he started talking again.

Before he even really said anything, Minji knew what he was going to say. He had suddenly gone shy, looking down at his foot which was nervously scraping the ground below. 

"Oh my God, Hajin..." Minji leaned close to her friend and whispered in her ear.

"I'm not a man who holds onto grudges...." He said, voice softening to a tone Minji was not familiar with. It was a stark contrast to the cocky little prince who rudely snapped at them all the time. 

"Get on with it." Hajin said, starting to lose her patience.

"What I'm trying to say is..." He trailed off, playing with his fingers nervously.

Suddenly, he couldn't face her and he turned away. As Minji watched the two of them, she noticed how it began to dawn on Hajin what the prince was trying to tell her. Meanwhile, the prince was debating with himself on how to say it to her. He muttered to himself under his breath, and hit hit forehead with his palm a few times.

Finally deciding on his choice of words, he turned back towards them. "I just wanted to say that...no one has ever treated me like you." He fed her a typical line. 

Minji wished she had gone into the house with Chae Ryung when she had the chance. Now she was going to be there to witness the little prince pour his heart out to her friend. She didn't know if that was just awkward, or sad. 

Hajin blurted out. "I didn't know guys have been using that line for over a thousand years!"

"What?" He asked her with confusion flashing across his face.

"That's a great line." Hajin said while nodding her head.

"A thousand years...?" Eun still didn't understand. But he forgot that thought and continued with his confession. "Anyway, this was the first time I've ever openly fought with someone. My mother and grandfather let me do whatever I want. They even let me hit them. Fighting with you was fun because you hit me back." He smiled wide at her.

Hajin told him sarcastically. "Then come by often. I won't hold back."

But the prince took her words literally. "Are you trying to say you want me to come by often, to see you?"

Hajin heaved a sigh, seeing that her words were apparently lost on him. He was slower at understanding things than the average person. He didn't know that she was being sarcastic when she said he could come by often. "Well, you did stop me and my friend from being punished and getting our limbs cut off. Its the least I can do."

Finally acknowledging Minji's presence, Eun said, "That's what I want in exchange for helping you. In exchange for your friend...I want her to stay as far away from me as possible." He shot Minji a glare, but he received one from her as well.

Minji replied. "I don't want to see you either."

"Come on, Min." Hajin linked arms with her again and led her into the house.

As they walked away, they heard Prince Eun calling to Hajin. "Today is our first day, then!" 

-

a slightly filler chapter, since i know its been months since i updated this. i noticed that there is a good number of you that currently still read this. so i hope i didnt make you wait too long. 

thank you all for your support with this story as well as my other ones.

it means so much to me. i also hope you're all having a wonderful day, and a wonderful weekend. 

-clary