With a merry whistle on his lips, Yeosang wandered the corridors of the museum. His step was light, voice chipper, as he saw off the last few visitors ambling towards the exit.

"Thank you for your visit. Come again next time," he beamed at a woman with her son, tugging at her hand to check out Ancient Greece once more. The two smiled back at him before she ushered him outside, promising to find out more about Poseidon at home.

Yeosang peered into the adjoining rooms, made sure everything was in place and no one got lost among cabinets filled with artefact from ancient times. He put the audio guides and screens into rest mode, picked up a forgotten hat. On his way back out, he halted at the storage closet to get their trusty broom.

Seonghwa was checking the other half of the building. His pink hair was gathered half up, exposing the twinkle of his dangling earrings and the sparkle of his eyes to match. He explained some last details to a group of absorbed tourists on their way out and Yeosang caught a quick wink, almost too fast to miss, thrown his way. He beamed back, his cheeks warm.

After his two years of working here, Yeosang had figured out the perfect routine for sweeping the floor. He jogged with the big broom poised before him, swishing through corners and gathering up candy wrappers. Behind him, Seonghwa checked the rooms once more, locking windows and back doors.

With the early darkness of autumn descending past the windows, peace returned to the museum. It was never too loud of a workplace, but it was most tranquil once everyone left. Once only the stories stored in these old items whispered their tales.

Happy to end the day and go home, Yeosang cleaned up the dust he gathered and put the broom back into its closet. In the bathroom, he fixed his blond hair and his spectacles with quick hands. Even when no more customers needed him to guide them through history, Yeosang liked to look put together.

He met Seonghwa in the entrance hall, finishing with the register.

"Good work today," he told Yeosang while he filled up the pamphlet stand. They had a school class in today and everyone bought a keychain of an amphora. Together, Yeosang and Seonghwa restocked those as well.

"I'm going to water the plants and go home after, so you can leave first," Yeosang offered as they stood huddled together before the display. Seonghwa smelled good, light and fresh, like flowers and honey. Yeosang inhaled his familiar scent until Seonghwa left his side to fetch his coat.

"Then I'll lock up the back gate. See you tomorrow, Yeosang."

Yeosang waved him off until the door fell shut behind Seonghwa's white, fur-lined coat. Some tension left with him. Yeosang deflated, suddenly embarrassed by making it so obvious.

But was it really, since Seonghwa never made any note of mentioning?

Yeosang shrugged it off. He made sure once more they didn't miss anything, and all alarms were active. Then he packed his bag.

He worked at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands. Aside from the picturesque building their museum had found its home in, they boasted with permanent exhibitions of the ancient Near East as well as ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, the Etruscan civilization and the Netherlands from prehistoric to medieval times.

Their exhibitions were grand, illustrating some unique treasures in artful displays and Yeosang had always admired the interior and flair for its ability to transport him into another time.

It was the working place of his dream. A student of ancient history, he adored telling young kids with sparkling eyes about the Romans and the Greeks. He showed them their art, their cooking utensils and their weapons, painting a picture of ages past.

Once, Yeosang's goal had been to become a professor at a university and to teach others about his passion. Not that he fully gave up on that, but his best friend Wooyoung had hooked him up with this job and it had been a most satisfying experience. It was serene; it was what Yeosang loved doing, and his coworker was incredibly handsome.

They were three in total. Seonghwa, Yeosang, and Yongguk, the director. Although Yongguk was rarely in, only checking on them occasionally, since he was easy-going with their ideas for the children's program or redesigns on their guide pamphlets. On most days, that meant Yeosang got to marvel at his crush in peace. Seonghwa was the nicest person he knew. He was soft-spoken and gentle, pretty and well-groomed. Yeosang admired his ability to speak to their guests and to children. Though Seonghwa hadn't studied history, he was passionate about learning the job and Yeosang soon stopped minding that his best friend quit and the job went to Seonghwa.

Seonghwa was also gay, but Yeosang hadn't dared step out of the closet yet. He wanted to get a date, but he was too shy, even when it might work out perfectly. Currently, Seonghwa was single, and he seemed fond of Yeosang, but what if someone else caught his fancy?

Yeosang fretted, Yeosang lay awake at night, but in the morning, all the courage he piled up would leave him and he wouldn't dare ask the question.

But it was fine. Yeosang had all the time in the world to ask Seonghwa out.

Or so he thought.

He was watering the plants, as he promised. They sprouted through all the corners of the museum, decorating their exhibitions with matching species of fauna. Yeosang would have been about finished when a noise had him pricking his ears.

It was a rattle, like a chair rolling over the ground or perhaps a window sliding open. It came from deeper inside the institute, towards the ancient cultures.

Confused, Yeosang peered back at the entrance. It hadn't opened behind him and everything else was locked up. A bird that got trapped inside? Mice?

Not one to ignore a potential problem, Yeosang spun on his heel to wander back down into the exhibition. He called ahead to alert any potential robber that the museum wasn't empty. It had happened before, some old scriptures taken out of their cabinets. Thankfully, the alarms had alerted the police quickly enough that everything could be recovered, but Yeosang wouldn't risk any damage done.

"Excuse me? Anyone there?"

The same noise sounded again. He got no reply.

Yeosang picked up the broom on his way back into the room. It was the best weapon he could think of on the fly. With it clutched in his fists, he snuck through ancient Rome past peaceful sets of armour and pillars of long-crumbled temples. The noise came from Egypt, so he peered around the familiar blue walls into the gallery first, trying to locate an intruder, on wings, paws, or otherwise.

"Hey, the museum is closed. Please go home," he called out from his spot since his heart was hammering in his chest despite his courage. He thought himself a sensible adult, but he feared any robber might not be.

Should he call Seonghwa? No, not over some noise. He should find the source first. If it was just a squirrel, he could take care of it himself. (Spiders, on the other hand, difficult. But if a spider big enough to make such a ruckus was in here, Yeosang would get eaten anyway, he was not battling that.)

With all his bravery, Yeosang neared the source of the noise. Behind their assortment of egyptian sarcophagi and mummified animals unearthed from tombs full of bronze treasure, one of the glass displays was shaking precariously. Something rattled the glass to produce that noise and Yeosang rounded the spot with caution, his broom held ready to shove.

A chill ran down Yeosang's spine when he realised one of the coffins was moving. Like in some horror movie, a hand covered in bandages had emerged from the narrow opening they displayed for the mummy inside. It was shoving and pressing against the glass, trying to worm out of the narrow prison.

For a long moment, Yeosang stood in shock, thinking he had landed in a nightmare.

Once he realised this was likely just some kids pranking around, he jumped into action. He dropped the broom and hasty fingers fumbled for the keys on his belt to unlock the glass case. Frantic fingers stretched for him, tan and lively and not at all the dusty mummy they preserved in there.

Yeosang cursed to himself. He had to admit the scare worked, but rage followed as soon as he unlocked the glass and shoved it aside. What happened to the mummy of their pharaoh? Where did it end up?

"What the hell?! How did you get in there?" Yeosang yelled as soon as he opened the sarcophagus, not caring to touch it with bare hands since it already had the paw prints of that idiot all over it. He had to call Yongguk and the police as soon as this was dealt with.

An unclear mutter answered him as the person emerged from the golden coffin designed to the likeness of a pharaoh. It was a man, wrapped in the same old bandages as their mummy. He was tastelessly nude in there, just ruining an ancient treasure for fun.

"Come out of there! This is a crime!" Yeosang stepped aside to drag him out and the bandages naturally slipped and slid down tanned skin, granting a view of a head of dark hair and muscular shoulders.

Their eyes met and Yeosang wasn't surprised to see a certain craze in that madman's gaze. He didn't attack, though, so Yeosang glowered at him.

"You idiot! What did you do with the mummy?!" Not up for jokes after the near heart attack so late at night, Yeosang searched the coffin, but the mummy hadn't been squished to dust. Fully gone.

The man replied to him, and Yeosang didn't understand again. But this time, it sounded like a different language instead of gibberish.

When he turned, the face of the man was agitated. He pointed at the coffin and then at himself, babbling wildly. Yeosang watched him with narrow eyes. He had never seen the guy around before, or he might have remembered him. What was his business?

It took Yeosang another moment to realise he did speak that language. Not that he ever expected to hear it out in the open.

He slapped his hand against his forehead.

This had to be a bad dream. Why did it feel so real?

"I must have gone crazy. What jest is this? Pretending to be a pharaoh?" He asked, in Demotic this time because no way in hell did this fool speak fluent Late Egyptian just now, but he got an answer.

"I am no mere pharaoh, you fool! But you may be my servant yet. Did you wake me? Is this my new temple?" Relieved to be understood finally, the man stemmed his hands on his hips. He didn't care about his partial nudity, just looking around the museum and the treasures it amassed.

Yeosang was too tired for this lunatic. Before he could venture over to the Temple of Taffeh the museum rebuilt in the corner (originally built between 25 BCE and 14 CE), Yeosang barked back at him. So much effort, for what? Just to make fun of poor Yeosang on a Friday evening?

"It's not. This is a gallery. Please get out now and sober up. This is a tasteless joke. I can call a... cart for you, but the rest is on you." No word for 'taxi' in ancient Egyptian.

But the man shook his head, pleased with the small temple as if he was looking at property.

"No, this is just fine for me. Prepare some food and drink. You may catch me up on what happened since I fell asleep."

For a brief moment, Yeosang wondered which god he had displeased to deserve this. He didn't have the patience for this bullshit. Though the guy seemed harmless and just messed up in the head, Yeosang had enough trouble coming for finding him inside a sarcophagus.

"I don't know what you're on, but can you leave? Go to a healer if you need help, a... tavern if you have no home, otherwise I'm calling the guard." A threat was his last attempt, but the man looked nonplussed. He gave Yeosang a condescending look, as if challenging him to try.

Without giving him another chance, Yeosang whipped out his phone. He kept an eye on the intruder while he described his situation and was promised help while his self-proclaimed pharaoh wandered around the temple and pondered artworks as if he were a professional judge.

His robber made no trouble, not even when Yeosang opened the door to let in the uniformed officers.

"Song Mingi. You reported an intruder?" The man flashed his badge at Yeosang and Yeosang beckoned them towards Egypt with a tired hand. He wasn't getting any sleep tonight after he cleaned this up and confessed to Yongguk.

"Hi, yes, that was me. There is this strange man inside. He didn't try to harm me, but he seems confused. Best you take him in."

The officers marched ahead and found the fool snap in the middle of the room, not even trying to hide. He looked surprised when he was shackled and had a blanket thrown over him.

"You, servant, what is going on?" He asked Yeosang, but Yeosang just held the door as they took him away so he could finally do his work.

What a weird evening.