Seoul, South Korea — February 2025
In the heart of Seoul, not far from Gyeongbokgung Palace, stood a quiet museum few tourists knew about — the Seonhwa National Archive, specialized in pre-Joseon artifacts and spiritual relics.
Inside, under sterile lights and silent cameras, Lee Yo-han worked the night shift.
Twenty-eight years old. Graduate in Korean history. Quiet. Observant. Haunted.
Each night, he roamed the corridors, checked the sensors, cleaned the glass display cases, and updated the logbook.
Routine. Silence. Stillness.
Until the whispers began.
⸻
Night 1
A subtle breeze in the "Royal Legends" wing.
He turned.
Nothing.
⸻
Night 4
The sound of silk brushing stone.
A low hum, like a flute being played from far away.
⸻
Night 7
The security monitors flickered.
For a split second, a shape appeared behind him on screen — tall, cloaked in red.
When he turned around, there was no one.
⸻
Night 15
Unable to sleep during the day, Yo-han returned early to the museum.
The curator, a superstitious old man, watched him with concern.
"If you feel something," he said, "leave it alone. Some relics carry the weight of memory."
But Yo-han couldn't stop.
That night, he approached the exhibit labeled:
Crown of the Forgotten Emperor.
An ornate piece of metalwork, rusted in places, but strange blue stones embedded along the rim.
He stared at it too long.
His breath slowed.
His reflection blurred.
And then—
Darkness.
⸻
The Vision
A battlefield.
Dust and smoke.
Drums echoing like thunder.
And a woman in green, standing in defiance.
He was not himself.
He was… someone else.
⸻
Yo-han woke up the next morning on the museum floor.
Tourists crowded the lobby. His coworkers stared.
He had fainted in front of the ancient relic — lips murmuring in an unknown language.
"You need rest," his manager said.
"Take the week off."
⸻
Outside — That same day
Yo-han walked slowly through the snow-dusted streets of Seoul.
His mind foggy.
His chest tight.
Then, as he stood at the bus stop near Hongdae Station…
A woman passed by him.
And time stopped.
She turned.
He turned.
Their eyes met.
They didn't know each other.
But something ancient inside them recognized the other.
And for one suspended moment, the world ceased to move.