Chapter 2; skirts, fainting, dinner

"It'd be amazing if time could flow backward, but what can we do?

There's no use in crying over spilled milk.

You have a lot of time.

You can fill up the glass again slowly.

So don't cry too much.

Don't beat yourself up for too long.

But never forget what happened."

- While You Were Sleeping

Jin Ae was surprised when he rummaged through the straw basket he had been carrying to pull out a cloak. He stretched it out to place it around her shoulders, and Jin-Ae, who was apparently still in shock didn't realize that he was too short to do so, and it took her a few minutes before she finally bowed down.

" S-sorry," She blurted out, hugging the cloak tighter, " I'm just..in shock."

" I can tell," He grumbled, though he shrugged and continued down the path," C'mon now, before it's dark."

She hurried after him, and as they passed the lights and beautiful flowers she realized why he might have given her the cloak. Yes, the wind was cold, but maybe it was more to do with her clothes. As she looked around, the women around her all wore dresses that reached past their knees, nearly brushing the ground. The man before her, however, was intent on trying to stay clear from them, or from anyone in that matter.

When he saw someone in front of him, he suddenly froze, and Jin-Ae nearly collided with him as he leads her to a different path. After a few minutes of sneaking around, they didn't pass anyone and eventually reached one of the holes( or houses). He quickly fumbled with the keys and before she knows it she was being ushered inside.

Jin Ae, who wasn't relatively tall, didn't have to duck through the doors, but she still feels compelled too because suddenly inside everything felt so small, before she could ask he appeared beside her.

" I'm Bilbo," He said, nodding," Bilbo Baggins."

" Dr. Jin Ae," She outstretched a hand, and he eyed it before taking it, " Thank you for your invitation."

" Why did we have to sneak around ?" Jin Ae asked, following him as he went inside. Her eyes roaming curiously. Once they landed on him, he looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Jin Ae stared back as if to tell him she really didn't know.

" It's" He coughed, " Erm, considered improper for me to invite a woman inside my house without a chaperone."

She now understood why he would rather talk to her inside his house rather than outside where everyone could see, but then it made her even more confused, "Improper? That's, weird. How could that be improper ?"

" You're not from around here, are you ?" He asked, furrowing his brows. He leads her towards a chair, and he pulled it out for her. She gladly sat down and soon they were both sitting across one another, a cup of tea in each of their hands.

" Well, where exactly is here ?" She asked, trying to calm her breathing as she takes in how different everything was. Not in the sense that she was in another country or place. No, she felt as if she was in another world, everything seems so alien. She felt as if she wanted to cry in relief when he spoke English, at least it was something she could understand even if it wasn't Korean. He seemed to also be taken aback by her accent, well she did attend Cambridge University. It had been a difficult time for her, trying to catch up with the languages and her peers, but through constant support from back home, she was able to push through. Her father always teased her of how good her English was, praising her at her accent.

" You're in the shire," He answered cautiously.

" And which part of London is that ?" She nervously asked.

He stared at her blankly, before placing his cup of tea on the table with a clang. She winced, she didn't mean to frustrate him, but he seemed to be more frustrated in himself, as he struggled to find the right answers to her question. H kept glancing at his clock, and back to his kitchen. Was she keeping him from dinner?

She frowned, " How about you tell me more about this place, and I'll see if I can come up with anything. I promise I won't keep you from dinner any longer."

He gave her a small smile.

" Mr. Baggins-"

" Yes."

" I think I'm going to faint."

" I'm sorry I fainted," She murmured once he brought her another cup of tea. He looked at her sadly, as if he could sense her distress. He passed her the hot beverage before sitting on the couch across her. She had wanted to ask if he carried her to the couch she was currently laying on and if he actually went through all the trouble of draping her in soft blankets. But she already knew the answer, so she didn't say anything as silence engulfed them. The fire crackling in the hearth.

" This place you come from," He spoke softly as if he was frightened to scare her again, " It is not in Middle Earth ?"

She shook her head, " I don't think so. Where I'm from, your world is - "

Fictional.

Made up.

Completely artificial.

Staged by actors and cameras.

" Is – Is history."

She didn't remember the exact part where she realized that this was all from a book, but she recalled him saying something about Hobbits, and it clicked to her. Like a switch, memories of 2011 came flooding back to her, when everyone in Korea was talking about the latest Hollywood movie. She couldn't miss it, how could she when advertisements were hung on billboards and advertised on windows when little children in the hospital had told her about how cool the CGI was, when her female friends would gush to her about how charming some of the characters were.

She even remembered the premiere, and how her friends had tried to drag her out of studying for finals to get a glimpse of it. She shook her head at the memory, now she regretted not watching any of the films with them. Maybe if she knew more, she could've been more helpful, she could've been more composed. But here she is, one step closer to fainting again.

This is impossible, and yet Bilbo Baggin's house felt more real than anything that happened today.

She tried to stand up without feeling dizzy, by focusing all her energy on standing up, but eventually, she sank on the floor. Everything was becoming a sensory overload to her, she felt overwhelmed with the events that had occurred all in the past twenty-four hours. She was still heartbroken, she was still grieving. Now she's lost, in a place where everything was supposed to be fictional.

She didn't have the heart to ask Bilbo if he was joking or not, because she already knew the answer.

Bilbo rushed to her side, " Hey, you can stay in the other room. There's a room by the end of the hall used for guests, you can lay properly there. I'm going to prepare dinner, I can maybe fix you something up too."

He sounds concerned, and she could tell that she was very much intruding his home and his meal, she could tell from the brief flash of annoyance in his eyes. But she was thankful that he was kind enough to do this for her, despite not knowing who she was. She didn't know what to do if she met someone who claimed they weren't of this world, she would've called the police or make someone else take care of them. But he knew that she didn't feel safe, and so she was glad as he leads her down the hallway.

" I'll call you once the food is ready," He said through the door crack, " Then we can talk."

" Thank you," She said, looking at him in the eye, " I just need to collect myself. I promise I'll be useful once I get a grip."

He nodded before the door clicked shut.