Chapter 1: So and Soo

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

And oh she was. The guilt she felt nearly put her to her knees as his portrait hung right before her eyes. Ha Jin's hand had clasped over her mouth as the realization dawned that every single thing she had been dreaming for the past year, why she woke up crying every single morning without understanding why, the handsome and mysterious scarred man who drifted through her dreams like petals of a lotus on troubled waters, everything she heard and saw was real.

It was real. She had lived all of it, everything she saw. She had spent years living it, even though here in her own time she had only been in a coma for a year. She had lived through love and laughter, she lived through loss, pain, and suffering both physically and internally. She had lived with happiness, and a love beginning with a friendship that blossomed into something so deep, something that couldn't be explained with mere words, and it felt like her heart was breaking freshly, all over again.

4th Prince Wang So... King Gwangjong...Pyeha... So... my So...

She wasn't sure how long she stood there before she felt something brush her shoulder. Glancing over her shoulder, eyes blurred from tears, she could see a dark blue handkerchief dotted with white spots resting there. She was just about to lift a hand to take it and thank whatever stranger behind her was offering it, feeling slightly embarrassed that she was having a total breakdown in a history exhibit when a deep voice rumbled from behind her and her heart jumped into her throat at the sound of it.

"You never did listen, did you? When I told you that you were mine and that you could not die without my permission. You did it anyway." There was a half-chuckle. "You foolish girl."

Ha Jin's other hand slowly raised to clasp over her other hand already pressed to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the sounds of her own cries as fresh, visceral sobs overtook her. It was him. It had to be. His voice was so familiar. The presence of him behind her was so familiar. It felt like him. It sounded like him. Who else could it be? She was almost too afraid to turn around and look back for fear that he would disappear if she really did see him. If only she could just pretend... But how was it him? How was he even here?

And then, two very warm, strong, familiar arms were coming around her shoulders slowly to hold onto her, pulling her back to his chest and she could feel his heart pounding in between her shoulder blades. She let out another sob into her hands as she squeezed her eyes shut against the rapid flow from her eyes.

"I said I would find you. I'm not alone anymore. I have finally found you, my Soo-ya."

The warmth and realness of him held her ever tighter, so much so that she could feel him lightly trembling. She heard him sniffle before burying his face into her long, wavy locks of dark hair. Without warning, her legs went weak under her, losing her ability to stand, and So grabbed her by the shoulders, whirling her around to face him as the two went down to their knees right in the middle of the Goryeo era exhibit. Ha Jin had to admit she was glad nobody else was in here with them at this very moment. It was just the two of them, alone for the first time in a thousand years. Alone in their bliss, alone in their emotional reuniting.

Now that she was facing him, she blinked back tears as his familiarity came into view, drinking in every aspect she possibly could about him. His full lips were slightly parted, his brows drawn, his eyes still warm and the same as she always remembered were glassy and red-rimmed from his efforts of trying to hold back his own tears now that she could see were brimming his lower lids, threatening to spill over. His scent was even the same. His hair was cut much shorter than she remembered, but he still had those same, long bangs that fell over the left side of his forehead and his left eye. She was surprised to see that he still had his scar, and she watched as the corner of his mouth lifted in that crooked, lopsided smile of his that she so dearly loved.

Ha Jin could no longer help herself. She slowly lifted her hand and began to trace his features. She began with his scar, running her fingertips down it as she had so many years ago, and it felt exactly the same. Her fingers trailed down his sharp jawline, and then his face became blurred as more tears filled her eyes and unable to contain herself anymore, her arms were wrapping around him as she collapsed into his chest.

"Highness... Your... Highness... Pyeha... So...," his name finally came out of her mouth in a broken, desperate sob.

She was no longer Ha Jin in this moment, but Hae Soo once more, and So's arms came up to wrap around her again, burying one hand into her hair and another to wrap around her waist, holding her close to him.

"So-ya... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for leaving you alone. I never ever meant to leave you all alone. I never meant to die without your permission," she wept soundly into his chest, his shirt slowly soaking up her tears and her heart stuttered in her chest as it hit her that he was really here, it was really him and he was holding onto her like he would never let her go.

She felt the heaviness she'd been experiencing since she woke up from her coma disappear, and felt him rest his chin against the back of her head. Ha Jin closed her eyes, allowing her full weight to lay against him, and if possible, he held her even tighter, desperately as if he were afraid she'd disappear if he let her go.

"I know, Soo-ya. I know," So's own voice quivered as his lips brushed her hair with his words. "I understand, and I am so sorry too. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, that I couldn't be by your side when you left our world. I-," So's voice cut off as he took a sharp intake of air. "I didn't know how sick you were. I didn't know you were dying. I thought for sure that you hated me." Unable to contain his tears anymore, they broke free and Ha Jin could feel them falling into her hair.

"I didn't know the letters were yours. I had no idea. Jung never addressed them from you. They were in his own name, and all I could think was that they were just hate letters from my brother. I never wanted you to die without me by your side. I have so much guilt, Soo-ya. So much for being unable to be there for you. I am so sorry."

He keened quietly into her hair, and Ha Jin lifted herself up from So's hold, turning to fully face him. She placed both of her hands against the side of his crumpled face. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, his jaw working and his teeth clenched and warm water still sneaking out of closed lids, sliding in between her fingers.

"So-ya, look at me," she told him, her voice still laced with emotion, but stronger than it had been earlier. "Pyeha. Please, look at me." He complied, his reddened eyes staring back into hers. "I know. It's okay. It's okay. We can talk later. It's going to be okay. It'll all be okay."

So finally sobbed, breathing hitching, and Ha Jin could no longer stand it as she gathered him into her arms and this time he leaned into her, dropping his face into her shoulder, hiding it and his tears against her long, dark curtain of wavy hair, his arms desperately tight around her waist. Ha Jin stroked his hair, placing her lips softly against his temple as she gently rocked him for a few moments. He had always been such a quiet crier but one who easily did, and probably not wanting anyone to know that's what he was doing, and it hadn't changed now.

"I'm sorry," So whispered again as he sat up, and lifted a hand to his eyes, trying to discreetly dab at them with his knuckles and his wrist.

"You still cry so easily don't you?" Ha Jin told him softly as she lay her head against the side of his. So didn't respond as he attempted to wipe his face dry. "It's okay. I still do too."

So raised his head and pulled back from her, his warm, brown eyes still glistening with leftover tears, searching her face before giving her a weak smile and grasping her hands in his own, pulling himself together and tugging Ha Jin to her feet, composure somewhat regained. He sniffed and gave her that lopsided grin of his. "Let's go somewhere else. Somewhere quiet and away from here."

Ha Jin nodded in agreement as she rose to her feet shakily. She really didn't want anyone to see them either. She wanted to be with him by herself, and So placed an arm over her shoulders, holding her against him. The two left the exhibit and the building with their heads lowered in hopes that nobody had just witnessed what happened between the two of them, but neither had been unable to help themselves. Luckily, and much to Ha Jin's relief, nobody paid them any mind. However, neither of the two noticed the man whom Ha Jin had run into earlier, the one who looked so eerily similar to Ji Mong. They never noticed him watching them quietly, hidden from their view, and they never saw the satisfied smile on his face.

A little later on, the two were walking toward a nearby park, and Ha Jin took note that the sun was setting, slowly making its descent into the west and painting the sky in beautiful hues of pink and orange. Ha Jin sighed and smiled as her fingers intertwined with So's, who was glancing down at her with an indecipherable expression on his face.

"What? Was is it?" Ha Jin questioned him as she glanced upward, tilting her head slightly, her lips still curved upward. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

So just chuckled, shaking his head. "I've heard that before," he tugged at her hand as the two reached a gazebo, noticing that they were completely alone.

Now that the sun was setting, most everyone had already left for the day, and they took a seat together on a bench under the gazebo. So took both of her small, soft hands into his own and stroked his thumbs over the tops of her hands.

"I just... can't believe it's really you, and that I found you again. Ji Mong told me the day that he left, he didn't believe you were of our world, and I vowed to myself that if we were from different worlds, I'd find you. And I did."

Ha Jin felt her heart skip a beat and her eyes widened. Ji Mong had left So all alone in the palace? Her hands squeezed his. "I never wanted you to be left all alone there in that place. I am so truly sorry, So..."

"It's alright, Soo-ya. All that matters in this world is that I'm right here with you now," he told her, his hand reaching up to cup the side of her face, his thumb raking lightly over her warm cheek. "I have waited for a thousand years for another moment like this," his voice was barely above a whisper, before he leaned in and slowly, tenderly touched his lips to hers.

Ha Jin's eyes fluttered shut. The moment his lips met hers was like an electric jolt, and her arms went up instinctively around his body, and once more, she felt like Hae Soo again, back in Goryeo with her beloved 4th Prince in her arms. His lips caressed hers, opening slightly, moving carefully over hers, and his kiss felt exactly the same as it did all of those years ago. Their lips fit together just a perfectly now as they had back then.

She never thought she'd ever get to see him again, much less kiss him and Ha Jin couldn't hold back the tears that had yet again welled up behind closed eyes. They snuck out as her eyes opened back up, and the two slowly broke their kiss. So gazed down into her face, searching her eyes with his own, just as soft and caring as she remembered from years long since passed, and he used his thumbs to brush away her tears, his lips turned up in a tender smile.

Ha Jin, no she was Hae Soo in this moment, leaned forward again, grasping the back of his head with her fingertips and captured his lips once more, only this time, a bit more passionately. Their mouths connected in a battle of tongue and lips, her teeth on his bottom lip, before the two broke apart again, breathing a little more heavily, their foreheads pressed together.

"So-ya," Ha Jin breathed out, her eyes closed tightly and her forehead still leaning against his. "I have never stopped loving you. Not ever. Not once. I never hated you. I never resented you. I feared with all my heart that I left you alone in the world knowing nothing but hate, and if I did, I'm so truly sorry. I loved you then, and I love you now."

So shook his head, his voice thick. "You didn't leave me with hate. I read every single one of your letters. I know how much you loved me. I knew that you still loved me when you passed, and it nearly destroyed me when I knew you had been waiting for me, and I was too late to get to you... If only I had known, then maybe...," she placed her fingertips gently over So's mouth and lifted her head to look at him earnestly and sincerely, shaking her head.

"No more of that. You're here now. You're here with me. We are in another place and another time. Do you remember what I said to you that one day? I said that if we had met in another place and time, that I could truly and freely love you all I wanted. I can do that now. I don't want any more regrets. Whatever happened back then, it's in the past. So please, let's let go of what we suffered and start over again," she pleaded with him, her eyes searching his now.

She slowly raised her hand to the side of his face and rubbed her thumb over the raised skin of his scar. All So could do was nod his head, and Ha Jin could tell he was struggling to keep his emotions in check. She gave him a brilliant smile, changing the subject to something else before they both started crying again.

"Tell me. Now that I'm thinking of it. How did you end up here? How did you manage to find me?"

So sighed as he drew in his eyebrows. "You know, it was really strange. The last memory I have before I ended up here was that I was King of Goryeo, and I was dying. My body was just giving out. I remember that day was the day of the solar eclipse. I was 50 years old, and just as the moon covered the sun, I passed away, and then I woke up here. There was no afterlife, just moving on to the next life, but in such a strange way."

He raised a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "It was a little over a year ago now. From what I was told, I had been involved in a really bad motorcycle accident. I have no memory of that. When I woke up, I didn't know anyone or where I was. Of course, at the time, I knew absolutely nothing about how this world worked, so to say I was scared out of my mind is an understatement."

Ha Jin found herself giggling as she held onto his hand, only imagining how he reacted to things of a world he knew nothing about. She understood exactly what had happened to him. He laughed too.

"It's better now. It took me a while to get used to everything, especially what you guys call vehicles and traffic. Imagine my surprise when I didn't see any horses, and all I saw were buildings, cars, and strange roads with odd lights and signs. But I did learn to drive a car at least."

He shook his head, amused. "Anyway, I was nursed back to health for a few months in the hospital by kind doctors and helpful nurses. I had broken ribs, a shattered arm and sustained some serious head injuries from the impact of it all. At least that's what my doctor told me at the time. He said my head injuries were the reasons for my amnesia."

Ha Jin gasped. "This is amazing. I mean. I thought I was the only one something like this ever happened to, but I wasn't!" So raised an eyebrow at her in question. "So-ya, your soul traveled forward to this time when you passed away in Goryeo. You said it happened during the eclipse right? The So of this time must have died in that accident at the exact same moment that you died in Goryeo. You did exactly the same thing I did! When I died in Goryeo, I came back to this world and woke up from a coma in my own body again. That must be it! This is why you have no memory of your previous life in this world."

So's face now looked thoroughly confused and Ha Jin laughed, leaning her forehead into his shoulder for a moment.

"Soo-ya, I don't know if I understand what you're trying to explain?" So rubbed the back of his neck. "Is that what Ji Mong meant when he told me you were from another world? It's this world, and the same thing happened?"

Ha Jin nodded her head. "Yes. When I arrived in Goryeo, here in this world I had tried to save a little boy from drowning. It was the day of the full solar eclipse. I saved him, but I ended up drowning in this time. When I came to, I found myself in the Goryeo era, in the body of the Hae Soo of that time, who also drowned at the same time I did. I somehow ended up there as Hae Soo. You see, in this time, my real name is Go Ha Jin. Go used to mean Hae during the Goryeo era," she smiled at him.

"That's why I was so different to everyone. I was Hae Soo, but I wasn't? Does that make sense? I mean, that must be what happened to you too, right?" She looked up at So, biting her bottom lip nervously who just laughed and rubbed her head and Ha Jin just shook her head. "Anyway, enough about me, tell me more! Because if you came here, then it must mean that we're meant to be together."

"Well, Ha Jin-ah," So began playfully with a wide smile, showing her all of his perfect, white teeth and she couldn't help but smile back. "In this world, my name is Kim Joon So. My parents are still my parents. My mother is... the same. Not much changed with her. She is the same hateful person who scarred my face," he pointed to his scar. "I have two brothers in this time and two half-brothers. My full brothers are Yo and Jung of this time. Their names are Kim Yeon Jung and Kim Hyuk Yo. My mother and father are divorced, and you might actually be happy to know that my father is married to Madam Oh."

His eyes sparkled as Ha Jin's hand flew her to her chest, her large eyes round and wide, her mouth slightly gaping as So revealed all of this information to her. "Lady Oh," she breathed out.

"My half brothers are Madam Oh's sons, but you'd remember them as Baek Ah and Eun. Their names in this time are Kim Baek Ah and Kim Joo Eun." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "My father wasn't exactly faithful to my mother. I guess who could blame him though, right?"

Ha Jin took this moment to trace his scar once more. "You still have your scar in this time too," she told him softly. "Your mother did it to you again?" She looked at him sympathetically, and So just shrugged his shoulders.

"It is a bit odd, but sometimes I will get flashes of memories from here that aren't truly mine, but have started to feel like mine if that makes any sense. I imagine they're from the So of this time who died, but what I recall is that my parents were in the middle of their divorce. I was a young teen at the time when it happened, but my mother was in a bind rage. She broke a wine bottle and threatened me with a shard. She cut my face... I guess some things never change," his eyes fluttered close painfully and Ha Jin placed her hand on his shoulder, her head tilted.

"I don't know what's in your mother's soul to be such a cruel person to you, even in this life. She is no better in this time than she was during the Goryeo era. I'm so sorry that she's like this with you again. You don't deserve that," Ha Jin stated, her eyes glancing back and forth between his own, but she found no traces of sadness. His eyes were half moons as he grinned.

"It's okay. My step-mother, Madam Oh, has more than made up for that. Because of her, for the first time since I can remember, I have known what it feels like to have the love of a mother. She has been good and kind to me since I arrived here. She was gentle and understanding when I remembered nothing and felt nothing but fear. She was the one who stayed with me in the hospital. She held me when I cried, she brought my medicine to me and made sure I took it, she was there to wipe the sweat from my brow when I woke up from nightmares. She supported me while I recovered. She has been so good to me, and for that, I'm truly grateful to her. I'm just happy that my father is with her in this time." He smiled radiantly at Ha Jin and pulled her into his arms again. "Just like I am with you."

"So-ya!" Ha Jin exclaimed, pulling back from his arms and placing her hands on his shoulders. "You have to take me to see them soon! Please! Do they... do they have any memories or do they know who you are? Or would they even know me?"

So shook his head somberly. "They haven't really shown any signs of remembering, but maybe something would awaken in them if they saw you? Though Baek Ah does look at me very strangely sometimes, and I can't help but wonder if he has flickers of memories of his past life?"

"I don't know, but I would really love to see them all again," Ha Jin replied hopefully, folding her hands together. "I would love nothing more than to see Baek Ah, Eun and Lady Oh. Maybe if they saw me they might remember something. I don't know, I just need to see them again," she sighed wistfully. "Though, Yo and Jung... are they...?"

So laughed at Ha Jin's worries and waved a hand. "We are all very close in this time. Yo and Jung were at my bedside when I first woke up after the accident. Yo actually cried. Can you believe that?" And Ha Jin laughed incredulously, having a hard time imagining Yo being so caring and concerned for his younger brother compared to the tyrant he was during the Goryeo period.

"It's hard to imagine, but maybe he's getting a second chance at being a good brother to you in this life," she smiled and snuggled up against his chest, feeling a chill and she shivered against him. Night had fallen now, the only light on them was the light of the street lamps and the small light next to the gazebo. Neither had realized how long they'd been there talking. So wrapped his arms around Ha Jin and rubbed his hands up and down them, noticing her goosebumps.

"You're cold. Why don't we go back to my apartment for the night? It's not a long walk from here." He suggested, a touch of mischief in this tone, and Ha Jin looked up at him grinning.

"You have your own place?"

So nodded his head. "Mhmm, now let's go before I can no longer control myself. Do you realize I've been waiting a thousand years for this? I can't wait any longer. It's just a short walk from here. I left my car at the complex and went for a walk, and something just drew me toward that exhibit. At least I know why now. Now that I have you, I can't stand it anymore."

She swatted him playfully on the shoulder. "Kim Joon So! Is that all that's on your mind?" But Ha Jin had to admit she felt exactly the same as he did, and she smiled brightly at him.

So grabbed her hands and pulled the girl to her feet, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her hard into him, much like he used to back when they lived in Goryeo together all of those years ago. He raised his hand to brush back her hair and leaned in to kiss her, long, languid and tender.

"I love you, Ha Jin-ah," he told her as they broke the kiss, just as sweetly as he had all those years ago, and it made her heart flutter familiarly in her chest, and swallow past a small lump in her throat as she smiled up at him. "I always have."

Ha Jin was rendered breathless. "Let's go. I know we have the rest of our lives, but I cannot stand another moment of not being with you, So-ya." They still had so much to talk about, but Ha Jin was done talking. She wanted him and she wanted him now.

He grabbed her hand, and he lead the way, quickly making their way back to his apartment.

The walk was not far, So was right about that, but it seemed like it took forever, and by the time they reached his door, So unlocked it and Ha Jin was on him kissing him desperately, passionately before the door was even all the way closed. She had lept his arms, hers laced around his neck, wrapping her legs around his hips crushing him to her, and they barely made it into So's bedroom before she found herself falling onto her back on top his bed.

Her legs wrapped around his waist once more, the heat coming off of his body in waves as he hovered over top of her and enveloped her, their mouths battling for dominance, clothes coming off in heaps on the floor, teeth, and lips raking over bare skin, as they connected for the first time in what truly was a thousand years. And he took her, just as carefully and as tenderly as the first time he did, treating her as though she were fragile as glass and made of something that could easily break.

"I believe that destiny allowed us to find each other again," Ha Jin whispered to him, her hands tangled in his hair.

So buried his face into the side of her neck. "I will never let you go. Not ever again. Not in this lifetime, and not in the next. I will always find you. I will always be with you."