Usually in the dreams, the moment before we're slam to the ground, we will wake up.

Then we will at once sit up in bed, sweat coating our body and heart ready to burst out of your chest. But, none of that happens to Joohyun.

Instead, the darkness that swallowed her whole recedes into a murky gray before she can see clearly. Her bones ache as though she’s been in a violent fight. Her skin tingles and Joohyun can still feel the air rushing past her. 

She lies there, panting until she has to remind herself to take deep breaths. She lowers her palms onto the polished pine floor, and for the first time, takes in her surroundings. The room she saw moments before is nowhere to be seen and Joohyun has no idea where she is now.

The small room she shares with Sehun is so small there’s barely enough room for the two of them. Yet this room is bigger than their kitchen and living room put together.

The polished pine floors gleam in the light from the oil lamps.  To her right are built-in bookshelves made of wood that practically reach the high ceilings filled with Korean and Western languages.

Joohyun twists around and sees a large writing desk. All the papers on the polished desktop are organized into three small stacks, held in place with stones.

An oil lamp in pristine condition sits on the far corner of the desk, its light shining directly on writing implements.

And to the left, straight in front of her, is candlestick telephone. The kind she would die to have in her home. The difference between the candlestick phones she’s seen and this one is this appears brand new.

One by one, her fingers curl around the lip of the desk as she leans closer to read the hanja written on rice paper. Reading everything written is difficult. Not because it’s messy. In fact, it’s the opposite. This writing appears like an elegant calligraphy. If her father were here, he’d say it was done by a scholar.

A frisson of alarm dances down her spine.

Joohyun pulls away from the desk and looks at the wooden windows fixed with paper. 

Sometimes when she can’t sleep, Joohyun looks out her small bedroom window and looks the world around her. She’ll watch the cars drive by, their taillights blinking in the distance. There will be the sound of honking horns or sirens going off.

On the weekends, people stay out late. Occasionally a couple or group of friends that have had too much to drink will walk by, laughing and talking too loudly. But she sees none of that right now.

Instead, she’s staring at a courtyard. The apartments she usually sees across the street are gone, replaced by large ginkgo trees.

A horse-drawn carriage pulls into the courtyard,she presses her face against the wood to get a better glimpse.

The apprehension she’s felt since the moment she opened her eyes quickly escalates into fear. Like the telephone, the carriage is ornately decorated and well-maintained.

A  guard dressed in a 'Jeongi', a traditional Korean military uniform that was worn by the guards during the Joseon era, walks down the stone steps and opens the passenger door.

The handsome guard offers his hand, and a lady dressed in a beautifully embroidered hanbok, takes his hand and steps out of the carriage. The lady turns, and Joohyun is afforded a view of her long hair braided with her ribbon, while the two of them walks inside the house. 

Joohyun watched them until they disappear from her view as she closes the window back.

Turning in a circle, she drags her hands through her hair. What is happening? And how does she stop it?

The simple explanation is she’s dreaming. Yes, that’s it. This is only a dream. But never has she experienced a dream so... real. So visceral. She brushes her fingers across the surface of the desk and shivers.

She keeps moving because if she stops, she’ll crumble. And if she crumbles, she doesn’t know what will happen.

Joohyun walks toward the door and stops short once she sees the silver ornamental door latch, adorned with carvings of plum blossom. Briefly, she shuts her eyes and whispers, “This is only a dream. This is only a dream.”

Carefully, she opens the door and peeks out into the hall.

At first, it appears to be a regular hallway of Hanok. The same hardwood floors run the length of the hall. The walls are covered in elaborate silk wallpaper. Although the hallway is empty, she’s still hesitant as she steps out of the room.

The sounds of faint laughter, the same sound she heard in her living room, echo around her.

She steps forward, using the laughter as her guide. The hallway makes a sharp right, opening to what appears to be a foyer. The silk wallpaper is gone, replaced by cream-colored walls and wooden floors so clean, she can see her reflection.

From here, she has a bird’s-eye view of the front door door. She freezes as another couple walks through the front door. This pair is in the same fashion as the couple she saw outside.

The woman’s jewels sparkle as she smiles at whatever the man escorting her has said. They haven’t noticed her, and that gives her the courage to creep forward.

If this is a dream—which it has to be—then what’s stopping her from following them?

Joohyun grows bolder and walks passed the foyer when one of the guard standing outdoor sees her.

Joohyun freezes. He freezes. They stare at each other. She waits for him to say something. His eyes widen imperceptibly. Then he acknowledges her with a slight dip of his chin before he directs his attention to the front door.

It’s almost as if she doesn’t exist.

See? Her mind whispers. All a dream,

Joohyun battles with herself for a moment whether should she go forward or walk straight back to the room she came from?

But ultimately, her curiosity gets the better of her. She steps out of the shadows and walks into the massive foyer as though she owns the place.

 What greeted her gaze was extraordinary.

A sweeping double staircase of gleaming wood and iron wound upward, quite unlike the standard single-flight hanok design.

Fine details of the walls and soaring ceilings reminiscent of the mansion. Joohyun sensed Western-style furnishings was adapted since Western world had begun permeating the elite in Hanyang through newly opened ports in late 19th century.

For Joohyun, what steals the show is a sweeping double staircase of gleaming wood and iron wound upward, quite unlike the standard single-flight hanok design. She turns and gapes at it. 

Lingering on the second floor are a handful of men and women quietly conversin

"Ah, there’s our hostess!"

The source of the voice is a dark-haired male with his hair neatly pulled back with a a cocky grin, revealing he’s used to female attention. Joohyun twists around to make sure he isn’t talking to someone else, but no, he’s coming straight toward her.

"Are you gonna join everyone or hide all night?" he asks.

"Ah... uh..."

He stops in front of her and takes a sip of his drink while he waits for her to answer.

Frantically, she tries to think of how she knows this man, but she’s drawing blanks. After a few seconds pass and she still doesn’t reply, the man gestures for her to go before him up the stairs.

Giving the palace guards behind her one last glance, she follows this stranger. Might as well. She planned on going up here anyway.

Her hand curves around the railing. For a second, she feels a trickle of excitement rush through her. It’s almost as though she’s touching something, experiencing something she shouldn’t be.

That’s the beautiful thing about dreams. They create a scene you would typically never have a chance of encountering and make it come to life.

"Everyone has been searchin' for you. Especially me," he says in an intimate voice. Once they reach the top of the stairs, he stops her and leans in. "We aren’t supposed to meet until later, but if you’re ready, so am I." A wolfish smile spreads across his face.

What the hell is this guy talking about? Her feelings must've been written across her face because he steps back with a small laugh, completely unruffled.

"You need a drink," he announces soundly before he stalks across the room.

Hesitantly, she steps forward. A dense cloud of incense swirls in the air, mixing with the scent of women’s perfume. Light from the lanterns reflects off jade cups.

Everyone around stops and stares at her. She glances down at herself and realizes she’s still wearing the dress she traveled here in. Compared to everyone’s hanboks and jewels, she seems practically .

She smiles nervously and tries to find a familiar face, but there’s no one she recognizes

A few women step back from her. Joohyun can’t tell if it’s because they’re so repulsed by her or are curious about her dress.

Some lean toward the person next to them and whisper frantically, their eyes rooted on her. Some call out her name. She’s so overwhelmed, she couldn’t speak even if she wanted to.

She walks deeper into the room, eager to get away, but stops short.

This is the ballroom she saw in her living room. It’s utterly breathtaking.

The multiple arch-shaped entrances are surrounded by marble columns like the ones downstairs. At first glance, the room appears all white, but on closer inspection, the walls are painted ivory.

Delicate ink paintings and calligraphy scrolls hung alongside Western portraits and landscapes, bringing harmony to different artistic traditions.

"Joohyun!" a girlish voice says behind her.

Joohyun glances over her shoulder as a tall woman walks up to her. Her black hair's is in Gibson Tuck style. She has a face bordering on angelic, with a pair of shining eyes fringed with thick black lashes, and a small nose.

Majority of the ladies were wearing their finest hanboks , but she’s wearing a pure white dress in a Western style, the fine fabric accentuating her slender figure. She appears to be around her age, maybe younger.

She grabs Joohyun's hands and gapes at her. “What are you wearing?” as Joohyun smooths her hands down the little material of her dress.

“Is this some new fashion from abroad you didn’t tell me about?” She asks.

“Yes?” Her reply sounds more like a question.

“Your dress is risqué.” She leans in and lowers her voice to a conspiring whisper. “If Seungwan asks, I told you I’m stingily opposed to this entire outfit. But in truth, I’m dying to know where you got it.”

She winks at her as though they’re best friends with hundreds of inside jokes and years of history between them. She looks down at her feet, her face inches from hers. “Where are your shoes?”

Joohyun can’t help it and veers back. The girl is way too close for her liking.

She frowns at Joohyun. “You seem a bit dazed. Have you been drinking?”

Words are being thrown her way like bullets, each one ricocheting off of her. “I—”

“It doesn’t matter,” she continues. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Joohyun is speechless, but it doesn’t seem to matter because this stranger is doing the talking for the both of them.

The girl raises herself on her tiptoes and gently picks up a strand of her hair. “Is this a new hairstyle you’re trying out? It’s pin straight. How did you get it that way?”

“Straightener?”

Her answer makes the girl frown. “What’s a straightener?”

Joohyun wants to laugh, but warning bells are going off in her head.

When Joohyun doesn’t reply, she finally stops talking long enough to notice her silence. “Joohyun? Are you okay?”

She pats her arm in concern. It’s obvious she thinks they know each other.

Besides the fact she knows her name, Joohyun sees their familiarity in the openness with which she speaks to her.  But she has no idea who she is. That’s okay because this is a dream. Right? In dreams, anything goes.

Joohyun pastes on a bright smile. “I’m fine. Never better.”

“Sooyoung! Yaa, over here!” a person shouts behind her.

The girl, who Joohyun now knows is named Sooyoung, glances over her shoulder.

Joohyun closes her eyes in relief that the attention is off of her for a moment before she turns around and scans the room; she needs to find the quickest escape route.

This dream started out fun, and it still is, but it’s slightly unnerving having everyone speak to her as though they know her. It feels like they’re all privy to a part of her life she doesn’t know yet.

There are multiple exits, but the door to her left might be her most straightforward chance at a quick departure. But before she moves toward the door, she feels someone staring at her. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Joohyun scans the faces around her, but the feeling of being watched never lets up.

When she pivots back around, she comes face to face with Soooyung and another man. She gasps and steps back. “Holy . You can’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Something’s wrong with Joohyun,” the girl announces. “She’s using such crass language.”

The man beside her slings a friendly arm over Sooyoung shoulder and tilts his head as he gazes at her. “Really? How so?”

“Well, besides the daring dress, which, by the way, I am scandalized she would even think of wearing”—she gives Joohyun a small wink—“it’s something else. She seems... different.”

“And that’s strange?” the man asks.

She elbows him. “Johnny, I’m serious.”

“So am I.” He smiles at her, revealing a row of straight white teeth. Unlike the man from earlier, his smile is nothing but playful and friendly.

Something about his smile is familiar. Ignoring boundaries, Joohyun steps closer, her eyes scrunching as she stares at him. “Have we met before?”

“Oh, only a few times,” he remarks drolly.

She tilts her head. “I mean it. You seem extremely familiar.”

The jovial smile he wore seconds before slips away. He glances at Sooyoung. “Perhaps you’re right. Something’s wrong with her.”

All of a sudden, it comes to her. He’s one of the men from the picture. Not the mystery man. But the one standing to the left of him.

Impossible. Seeing this man in person is even more proof this is a dream. A slow smile spreads across her lips. This is amazing. So vivid and real.

In person, his hair is coal-black. Beneath the candlelight, his skin looks like the color of honey. His eyes are hazel, but still hold the mischievous gleam captured in the photo With him standing next to Sooyoung, it’s easy to see these two are related.

“What’s your name again?” Joohyun asks.

He glances between Sooyoung and her. Quickly Joohyun realizes it’s the wrong thing to ask; he thinks they know each other too.

“I’m Johnny,” he says deliberately slowly, as though he’s talking to an infant. “And you are Joohyun.”

It takes her a minute to reply because all she can think is that she finally has a name for one of the faces from the photo. “Johnny?” she rushes out.

He shakes his head and stares at her in an odd way. “Truly. Are you all right? You know as well as that my name came by my foreign from our Mother's side," Johnny pointed to Sooyoung.

Again, she nods. She’s starting to feel like a bobblehead doll.

“There you are.” A heavy arm curves around her shoulder. The man she bumped into earlier is back. “I was beginning to think you’d run away.”

“Uhh...” She stares at him in confusion.

Joohyun has stared at the photo so many times that Johnny is familiar to her. Seeing him makes sense. This man doesn’t. She glances between Johnny and Sooyoung for some confirmation they know this man.

Johnny nods, but there’s a strain to his smile. “Donghae.”

"Do you want to dance?" the man called Donghae asks her.

"I—"

Before she can respond, Donghae sweeps her up in his arms and guides them toward the middle of the ballroom, even though she’s still barefoot.

He’s so drunk that she doesn’t think he notices. He turns her in a circle, and she sees Sooyoung and Johnny in the same spot where she left them.

Johnny's attention is on the man standing next to him, but Sooyoung stares at Johnny and her with something close to disappointment.

Joohyun wants to know why, yet she doesn’t. When she wakes up, the trivial details won’t matter.

With her attention elsewhere, she ends up tripping.

Everybody around her is doing a dance she’s only seen in old dramas. Really, really old dramas. All the ladies dancing have their left hand resting on their partner’s shoulder. She follows suit. Part of her feels ridiculous, and the other is downright giddy. How many times will she ever experience something like this?

The answer is simple—never.

Her partner laughs off her awkwardness and holds her closer. Joohyun tries to make room between their bodies without drawing attention to herself.

Donghae pivots on one foot, changing directions and moving in time with everyone else. She scrambles to keep up with him even though the dance mainly involves easy walking steps.

“I have to say, you’re dressed... daring tonight.” Donghae looks her up and down. And it’s right around then that the feeling of someone staring at her slams into her.

Goose bumps prickle her skin, making her feel as though she’s on fire. She whips her head around, expecting to find a pair of eyes staring at her, yet no one is looking this way. She turns back to Donghae. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“Your outfit,” he repeats. “It’s daring.”

This dress is formfitting but daring? Hardly. Not compared to some of the dresses in the stores or online.

“Oh, well, I like it,” she replies, slightly defensively.

“Oh, well, so do I,” he retorts with a devilish smirk. There’s no question this man thinks they have some relationship. Although she has no idea why. The cocky, arrogant guys are not her type. Never have been. Never will be.

They move toward the opposite side of the room, and her steps continue to be awkward. Her brain and legs can’t seem to work together.

“I have to ask, are you wearing this for my benefit or to spite him?” Donghae asks.

Joohyun a brow. “Spite him? Why would I spite Sehun?”

He frowns. “Who is Sehun?”

She assumed he was referring to Sehun. Because who else would there be? Apparently someone.

“Wait,” Joohyun says as they continue to move. She trips slightly and he instantly rights her. “Who are you talking about?”

Right then, someone places a hand on her arm. She turns and sees Sooyoung. Her eyes are wide with panic.

“Seungwan is here.” She stares at her blankly, and she frowns. “Did you hear me? I said Seungwan's here. He’s livid.”

Judging by Sooyoung's frantic expression and tone of voice, she knows this Seungwan is someone important. But she doesn’t know who the hell he is or why she should be the slightest bit nervous.

Joohyun's getting ready to say that when Sooyoung plants her hands on her shoulders. It’s impossible to tell if the gesture is more for Joohyun's benefit or hers.

“You’re in no shape to see him. I’ll distract him. That should afford you some time to hurry to your room.”

Before she can reply or ask who in the hell this Seungwan is, the whispers start. Word spreads like wildfire until conversations practically cease.

“Go,” Sooyoung pleads.

No sooner has the word escaped before the doors at the far end of the room slam open. People stop what they’re doing. Even the musicians appear unsure and stare at each other in confusion.

Sooyoung and Seungwan move in front of her like a pair of bodyguards. She stands on her tiptoes and tries to peer between their shoulders, but all she can make out is a stark white shirt. Joohyun's confident it’s the Seungwan, Sooyoung was talking about.

In the hushed silence, Joohyun can distinctly hear his powerful steps. People inch toward the walls or the double doors. “What are you still doing here? Go!” Sooyoung whispers to her.

Why would Joohyun go? It’s just getting interesting. A thrill courses down her spine and spreads throughout her body.

Minutes ago, she wanted to leave, but the dramatic reaction elicited from everyone and the giant question mark stamped over this mysterious Seungwan makes her stay put.

Plus, this is a dream. Right now, she’s merely a cat with nine lives. If danger comes her way, she’ll survive. By the ninth, she’ll wake up.

For now, she’s safe.

The closer he gets, the louder his footsteps become. Her heart pounds in sync with his footsteps. When he stops walking, Sooyoung and Johnny's shoulders are practically fused together. All she can see is the man crossing his arms.

There’s a beat of silence before Sooyoung speaks. “Seungwan. This is a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“I live here. This is my home.” His voice is deep making Joohyun's pulse jump. “Who’s behind you?”

“No one,” Johnny and Seungwan say in unison.

“Are you sure? Because I swear I see the top of Joohyun's head behind your shoulder.”

He knows my name. How does he know my name? Once again, she reminds herself that anything goes in dreams. But something about this isn’t sitting well in her gut.

Johnny and Sooyoung turn at the same time. They wear expressions of pure shock, as if they had no idea she’d been standing behind them.

“Oh, it’s Joohyun.” Johnny shares a well-practiced look of confusion with Sooyoung. “I didn’t know she was there. Did you, Sooyoung?”

“I did not.”

Damn, these two are good. If this were real life, they’d be fast friends. From how they play off of each other’s body language and words, she knows they’re siblings; her brothers and sisters covered for each other the same way.

Joohyun can’t see the man’s expression, but she’s willing to bet he’s not buying anything they’re saying.

“Step aside. I need to talk to her.”

No one makes a sound. Joohyun's legs begin to shake.

When Johnny and Sooyoug don’t budge, he says, “Move. Now.” Sooyoung's shoulders slightly sag in defeat. She’s half-tempted to tell her not to give in to his demands, but her tongue becomes three sizes too big for .

As Sooyoung steps to the right, she gives Joohyun a quick once-over and whispers, “I tried to warn you.”

They move away, and it feels as if she’s been thrown to the wolves. Now she’s facing the leader of the pack. The first thing that comes to her mind once she sees him is . I should’ve listened to Sooyoung.

Because this isn’t the good old boy every mother wants their daughter to end up with.

No. This is the man every mom has warned their daughters about.

You run, not walk when you encounter someone like him.

Joohyun stands there as though she’s nailed to the floor and watches as the man gazes around the room. He sighs as if everyone is wasting his precious time.

Then Seungwan turns his eyes to her, and when he does, the realization hits her like a bolt of lightning.

It’s her mystery man.

The man from her dream.

The man from the picture.

Standing inches away from her.

i try making the settings in late 19th century, where that time during ruling of King Gojong, Western cultures are slowly adapted to Joseon. And so does it makes my writing easier for their clothes, acitvities, and house elements mixing with sight modern western stuff. And fun fact, at that time some of noble family, has started wearing suits and dresses like westeners.