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→緣分 (yuanfen) means fateful coincidence. A locket, that was once owned by a merchant from the 1600′s, possesses a curse, and has fetched your attention. When an old man offered the expensive accessory to you for no cost, you did not know that the price you have to pay is to go back to the 17th century, inside of the merchant’s house. As time passes by, she willingly helped you to find your way back to the present time, little did you know, she is your only key to the future.

The first thing to blame was the jade locket with its golden details. One summer day, your body was brought by your feet to an antique shop two blocks away from your apartment. The stroll was quite a bore for a few minutes, huge vintage clocks, old paintings, but a particular accessory resting by the glass counter begged for your attention.

The seller had no intention to putting it on sale. But at the end of day, after convincing him, the locket was placed in your palms as you promised to take good care of it.

The jade locket (which was owned by a rich and successful merchant in the 17th century), captured a young woman’s heart, and put on a curse on her for the rest of her life.

It was the last thing you saw before closing your eyes that night, and the next thing was finding yourself on a stranger’s mattress.

You were brought back to the 1600’s.

Upon opening your eyes, the first thing to greet your vision was a ceiling that was different and way too old for your apartment. And, was the broad back of a woman, clothed in a black coat with a white collar; very 1600’s.

Where in the world are you?

The woman must have heard a shuffle behind her, as she gazed sideways, only to be met by a stranger laying on her bed. She took the sharpest object near her reach, and pointed it directly at you.

“What the–” your hands flew in the air, afraid that she could pierce the dagger in the center of your chest.

“Who are you, miss?!” she interrogated. The woman stood on her feet, slowly made her way closer to your lying figure without removing her threat on you.

“How did you enter my house?”

Confusion and timidity made you struggle from getting away from the intimidating woman. “I-I don’t k-know!”

This made her rage more. “What do you mean you don’t know? How did you end up on my bed?” she took another brave step.

“I told you that I have no idea! Can you please put that thing down! It’s not like I can murder you in your own house. I don’t even have anything with me.” you begged with a shaky voice.

The woman was not stupid, as she took notice of your empty hands and scared eyes.

Questions were not answered, and she does not trust a woman with a pretty face—never again. But noticing the strange choice of your clothing, and the unusual style of your hair, the way you behave and the way you see her as a person; you look like someone from the future.

Impossible. She thought.

“Where is this?” you muttered, slowly sitting up, as she lowered the weapon from her grip.

You looked at her face.

Alluring.

Yet broken.

She looked like a successful woman, someone who doesn’t need more wealth in order to live in luxury, as if she had everything.

Someone who had everything, but love.

The stranger in front of you lacked the spark in her eyes. There was success, but never happiness. And its absence was too loud in her soul, that despite having excessive amount of money in her hands, she could never feel happiness within.

“My home. You are in my home, and this is considered breaking the law.” she replied, placing the dagger on the desk.

“Obviously, you just said that. And how many times do I have to say that I don’t know why I’m here?”

“Pardon, but can you please at least try to speak for yourself about the last memories in your head before you trespassed my home?” she was getting impatient, sitting down on her chair, facing you.

Recalling the last events, you remember having a walk, stopping by the shop, and getting hypnotized by a necklace with a beautiful pendant. After lying down to give yourself a little nap, you ended up here. You told the miss about the few memories in your head, and her reaction was quite surprising.

“Pendant?” she inquired, an eyebrow quirking.

Without realization, ever since you had woken up from the unconfirmed time travelling, the jade locket was dangling around your neck. All of a sudden, she became tongue-tied and completely speechless.

It was the last jewelry she wanted to see before dying.

Her hand found the dagger once again, and without hesitation, she approached your figure, pressing the blade right below your chin. You were placed with fear as the young lady looked at you with fire in her eyes.

“Why do you have that?” she grumbled.

“Where did you get it?!” she roared, feeling the coldness of the dagger on your skin.

“A man gave it to me, from an antique shop.” you barely uttered.

“Antique shop?! I have thrown that thing away, made sure that no one will have their reach on it!” she was mad

“Why the hell are you getting mad at me? It’s not like I stole it!” you tried shaking your head to get away from her grip, but she was too strong. “Can you free me? Get that dagger away from my neck!”

The second thing was the tear rolling down on the woman's cheeks.

Joohyun—turned out to be blessed and wealthy. She came from an elite and broken family, yet she managed to survive on her own by extreme perseverance. Considering the state of her relatives, she does not need to waste her expensive sweat by working on her own.

The room earlier turned out as a storage room. As she stepped out, you followed her from behind, and the house left you an awe. It was too big for one person, too fancy for a broken woman, too lively for a lonely lady.

Before she could enter another room, you pulled her wrist with a shaky hand. She turned around with a frown on her face.

“Get out.”

“Can we talk, please?” you begged.

She found herself sharing a seat with you on her massive living room sofa. She was sitting too formally; straight posture and well-mannered arms were resting on her knees.

“What day is this?”

She glanced once before replying. “It’s March 1602. Today is the 6th of March 1602 to be very exact.”

There was something about her that gave you a trustworthy feeling, something like a bond that strongly connected the strings of your hearts together, and it was unbreakable.

“I think,” you trailed off, being careful with your next words. “I was brought to the past.”

Her gaze didn’t change an inch from the statement, rather she nodded her head slightly. “I am trying to understand that too. No one here talks like you do, or dresses like that.” she said. “Everything about you is, oddly futuristic.”

“If you’re wondering, I come from the 21st century.

At this, she flinched lightly. “That’s far from today.” then silence. “The locket,” she whispered.

Your fingers flew on the accessory. “What about it?”

“I’m afraid that it is the answer to our questions.”

“Enlighten me.”

She took a deep breath through her nose, intertwining her fingers together. “I am a merchant. Something that my parents didn't wish me to be.”

“I work along with the elite, and the close acquaintances of our family; trading nothing but their jewelry.”

“We are in a good relationship with the Kang’s. Personally, I am very close to their daughter, Seulgi. She had a sister, and the first time I laid my precious eyes to her fantastic existence; it was the time I became foolish. Eventually, l forgot who I was, and fell in love with her without the knowledge of her sister. I thought it was the happiest, yet bravest decision I made in my life, but I wasn’t right. It turned out to be very cruel.”

“She knew her capabilities as a woman, and used them to fool and use me. When she found out about my wealth, she took the only opportunity to have me as her lover and pretended to be returning the feeling. Of course, even though my love for her had blossomed, it still hurt. Then when Seulgi found out about our relationship, she was punished, and thrown away far from this city. I don’t know where, I don’t want to know.”

Everything she said sounded like a fairy tale, but nothing answered about the jewelry on your neck.

“So? What about this?” you asked, playing with the golden chain.

Her eyes averted on your neck, licking her lips. “That’s hers.”

You froze in your seat.

She continued, “An old woman gave it to me as trade. I found myself accepting her offer. My lover saw it here in my house, and a smile appeared on her lips. I thought she believed it was beautiful, so I gave it to her and she gladly took it. Everyday, you coulf see it on her neck with every outfit she had. Later on, I found out that it was originally hers, and was given by Seulgi as a present, but she asked someone, to put a spell on it for me to fall in love with her.

Since then, I started to believe that love isn't meant to be”

After hearing the merchant’s story, chills travelled along your spine.

“Are you sure this is the exact jewelry?” there is still hope.

She moved her head to the side.

“I am afraid so.”

The curse? The betrayal? All of these sounded so fictional in your head, but there was something that begged for you to believe everything.

She probably noticed your sweaty hands resting on your thigh. “It’s too much, I know.”

“My mind is aching from all of this.” you confessed, to which she lowly chuckled. You shifted on your position to get a better view of her face.

She is indeed charming, with a pointed nose, naturally-plump lips, eyes with chocolate brown color, and her long hair neatly swept.

“You’re not going to kick me out, are you?” you asked.

She looked at you with a soft expression, completely opposite from her previous one when you woke up in her storage room. “No, we have to find out how to get you back to your time.” she said, standing up.

You watched her pale back as he walked away. “Hey,” you called.

She stopped once again, but didn’t turn around this time.

“What’s your name?”

Her shoulders rose a little. “Bae Joohyun. I go by Irene.”

“I am Y/N.”

Then she turned around, “Well, Y/N, welcome to the 1600’s.” and gave a smile before leaving you alone.

The third thing was the knock on the door. Footsteps followed by, and stopped after nearing your figure.

“I will have my chauffeur and my maid bring you to the embroidery shop.”

“You have a chauffeur? What mode of transportation do you have? And you have a maid?”

“I have a chariot.”

“A chariot? Isn’t this the 16th century? Don’t you have steam-powered vehicles?”

“Do you want to change your clothes?”

A victorious smile appeared on her lips from the lack of response from you. Just as you were about to speak again, another knock was heard from the other side of the door.

“Miss, Kang Seulgi is here.”

Without Irene's permission, the door opened ,only to reveal the second good looking woman you’ve seen that day. She had long dark hair which suits her face shape perfectly, a monolid pair of eyes and soft pink lips.

Irene's jaw clenched as she side eyed the other lady. “Did I tell you to come in?”

She smirked at her friend’s comment. “No, and do I take orders from you?”

“This is my house, Seulgi.”

“I know. You don’t have to tell me that every time.” she mocked. She walked closer to Joohyun, stopping directly beside her and eyed you carefully. “Is it her?”

Joohyun nodded silently.

“Y/N, we are finding ways here to bring you back. Do you think the answer is in my house?” Joohyun calmly asked.

Seulgi answered for you, “Alright then, if you don’t want to change into something else, why don’t we start searching through Joohyun's reading book for answers?” she proposed.

“Why don’t you try sleeping again?” Irene interrupted

You raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“That is how you ended up in my house, right? You were asleep, then you woke up here. Maybe if you try slumbering, you can wake up in your time.” Joohyun shrugged.

Why did you not even think of that?

The fourth thing was finding yourself still waking up in the guest room, you have been for the past three weeks.

Three weeks contained with consuming time in the merchant’s reading book, noses sticking in old pages of book spells.

Eventually, you were persuaded to dress the way they do; a robe with narrow sleeves tucked inside a skirt, making you look like you belong to the upper-class women.

As you stepped inside her room without budging a knock, a groan of complain was thrown at you right away.

She had never been so glad to see your beautiful face. A clench in her heart occurs whenever you’re near to her. Minding the small distance between the two of you, Joohyun became an expert to hide her true feeling, while you on the other hand, also remained expressionless.

And the fifth thing you knew was the absence of your clothing. The warmth of her mattress engulfed your body from head to toe.

You remembered tasting her lips. They weren't the softest, but felt incredible against yours. Her lips that molded perfectly, and moved sweetly, with her tongue exploring your mouth and yours danced with her. Then you remembered being carried by her arms, making your way inside her mansion. You remembered not pulling away as she almost stumbled on one of the staircase upon bringing you to her room. You felt the soft mattress against your back as she pinned you down, reaching for your two hands and interlacing her fingers with them. Her lips suddenly broke contact from your own, but immediately settled on the skin of your neck, electrifying your sensitive nerves.

Then everything happened so fast that the next thing you remembered was being naked in front of the beautiful merchant, so as she on top of you. Her mouth traveled on every edge and curve of your body. She held you on the perfect places, squeezing your waist with her soft hands. The heat of her bare and lean body was addicting. Her mouth traveled on your chest first, the sinful noises you produced was music to her ears, your fingers tangled tightly in her hair.

It was the bond, the spell, that brought pleasure to the both of you.

It was the curse that made you realize that your fate was being in love with Bae Joohyun.

The sixth thing you knew was giving up.

No more tiring days of finding answers. No more going back to the future.

There was only Irene for you.

And you for her.

Joohyun smiled affectionately to you, pulling away from your face. “Can I tell you something?” she asked and you nodded. “I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too, Bae Joohyun.”

Joohyun and you are forever foolish.

The eighth and the last thing you wanted in your lifetime was seeing yourself back in your apartment.

There you were, lying down on your bed, temples pounding hard from a headache, and the locket loosely wrapped on your hand.

You were certainly back on your time.

Instead of seeing Joohyun, the merchant and love of your life, no one was there beside you.

No Joohyun, no nothing.

Why did fate bring you back?

Then you noticed the cursed jade locket on your hand, and took a look at it. Pulling it closer to you, the locket changed.

The once jade pendant turned into a deep shade of red.

The color showed a sign that curse was broken, and you noticed small engravings of letters inside the locket.

After reading the words written inside, it hit you.

Joohyun is the door to your future.

Whoever takes the locket, gets mesmerized by its charm, must be taken back to the past, inside of the merchant’s abode. In order to get back to their present time, both must fall in love with each other. And both are cursed to long for each other’s love, as one leaves the merchant behind.

‘Joohyun was your past.

And you were her future.’

Both cursed to long for each other’s arms.

You left Joohyun in the 1600’s without your love.

And she left you even before you were born in this world.

You think that Joohyun was right;

love is not meant to stay.