***Author's Note***

Good Afternoon, my dears! I'm so sorry that it's been so long since my last update. I've been very busy at work and with Mothers' Day weekend, but here is the long-awaited chapter three! I hope you enjoy it!

***End Note***

Ji Mong watched over H-Jin while she slept, feeling like an overprotective father. The moment he'd woken up in this time, he'd started to search for her. He still remembered the moment he'd realized that she was the only one who could alter Wang So's terrible destiny. It had seemed like nothing in particular at the time; she just helped him to cover up the scar that marred the left side of his face. But that had been enough to change everything. She had somehow managed to keep him from doing anything drastic, and whenever she had asked him to spare someone's life...he did it. Without question. Ji-Mong shook his head in wonder.

He'd had a suspicion that they'd been from the same time from the moment they'd met, and he'd been right. When he'd woken, Ji-Mong had gone immediately to find books on Gwangjong to see how his future had been altered, if at all. To his astonishment, he'd found that the girl had managed what he never could: she had completely altered his destiny. It had become clear to him after reflection that there was one thing she had given him that no one – not even his mother – ever had. She had, simply, given him love without boundaries, expectations, or explanations. She had seen him for who he was without any delusions and accepted him anyway. It was that one choice – small though it seemed at the time – that had changed Gwangjong forever.

She was a special girl, for certain. He'd spent the last three years searching for her, in fact. Because of all these thing, he'd made up his mind to find the pair of them in this life, if that was at all possible, and see to it personally that they had the kind of life this time around that they should have had the first time. He'd started to lose hope that he would ever find her when he'd happened into a mall that was advertising a Gwangjong exhibit. As he'd meandered through the mall on his way to the display, he'd heard a familiar voice that had him stopping in his tracks.

Ji-Mong had thought he'd finally begun to go mad when he'd walked around a kiosk, and there she was; a smile on her face as always. She was – appropriately enough – selling makeup. He'd known right away that it was Hae Soo; but the question that he needed to answer was whether or not she remembered anything. Swallowing his excitement, Ji-Mong had crossed to the woman and asked about a specific product – the very concealer that she had made for Gwangjong to help him cover the scar that had marred his face and come out from behind his mask at long last. Ha Jin had turned to him with his inquiry. The moment her eyes had met his, he was certain there had been a moment of recognition before the blood had drained suddenly from her face and she had swayed. Her co-workers had instantly converged on her and convinced her to go home for the day. Ha-Jin had reluctantly agreed and headed in the same direction Ji-Mong had been heading.

He'd paused for a few short minutes to ask her coworkers about her health, and what he'd discovered rekindled his hope somewhat. It seemed that since Ha-Jin had woken, she'd had frequent recurring dreams of the Goryeo era, and she would sometimes have dizzy spells during the day. Ji-Mong had headed towards the display, hoping against hope that she had at least stopped to glance at the artwork. At long last, he'd arrived at the display and paused outside for a moment to catch his breath. As his breath slowed, he'd caught the telltale sounds of a woman crying. With his heart in his throat and hardly daring to believe that Ha Jin had retained her memories, Ji-Mong had slowly entered the room that was covered in Goryeo-era artwork. He had paused for a brief moment, recognizing at once Baek-Ah's impeccable artwork in every painting on the walls, save the wall-length scroll that showed the Gwangjong himself. Ji-Mong felt his chest tighten as he gazed on the face of his former king. Glancing to his left, he saw her kneeling on the floor, weeping brokenly.

Without any further hesitation, he'd crossed the few feet to the poor woman and removed his pocket-kerchief. He had tapped her on the shoulder and offered it to her. She had glanced in surprise at the kerchief for a heartbeat before glancing behind her to see who her unexpected visitor was. "Ji...Mong?" she'd asked hesitantly.

Ji-Mong had smiled softly at her and nodded, "I've been looking for you for a long time, Hae Soo." The words had seemed to unfreeze the emotions that Ha-Jin had locked in her heart, and she'd pitched forward, throwing her arms around her neck like a child who's run to their father. She'd stayed there for a long while, sobbing uncontrollably. Ji-Mong had sat, patting her hair softly, until her tears had abated and the soul-shaking sobs had quieted. "Feel better?" he'd asked her softly.

"Yes," she'd sniffled into his shoulder, "A little."

Ji-Mong had gently helped her to stand, "Why don't I take you home, and we'll talk?"

Ha-Jin had agreed and driven Ji-Mong to her apartment, where he'd had her sit at her own kitchen table and bustled around her small kitchen, making a couple of mugs of tea for them. Ji-Mong had barely finished making the tea when he'd turned around to find that Ha-Jin had fallen asleep while waiting for him. Smiling to himself, he'd lifted the girl carefully and tucked her into bed.

Breaking from his reverie, Ji-Mong sighed, "You must have been very tired," he mused, "Not that I can blame you. To find and lose your one true love in such a way...It hardly seems fair to either of you." Ji-Mong sighed again as he stood and padded silently into the kitchen, where he fixed himself another mug of tea. Across the room, there was a modest computer set up on a small desk, facing the window. There was a small potted hydrangea flourishing on a windowsill. Ji-Mong smiled at the perfect Hae Soo-ness of the whole apartment before he sat in front of the computer, flipping it on and waiting patiently for it to boot while blowing on his tea to cool it. It seemed luck was with him; it wasn't even password-protected. How like her, he thought fondly. Always so trusting. Ji-Mong opened her browser and pulled up the Naver search engine. For the next several hours, he occupied himself by searching for theories on time travel and their correlation to eclipses, scrabbling down any pertinent information he found on a notepad he'd found in a drawer in the desk.

Ha-Jin woke slowly to the light creeping slowly across her room. Reaching across to her nightstand where her cell phone sat, she flicked it on and checked her messages. Seeing one voicemail notification, she tapped the notification and listened as her boss informed her that she was being given two weeks of paid time off to get some rest. He seemed to blame the fainting spell on the fact that she had been in a coma for so long. He asked her to take care of herself and not to worry about a thing. She smiled as she deleted the message and blanked the screen on her phone, thanking her lucky stars for having such an understanding employer – even if he did have the wrong idea. Not that she was going to correct him, of course.

She sat in her bed for a moment, thinking there was something odd. Glancing at the now-empty chair by her bedside, she realized that Ji-Mong was not occupying it as she had expected. Sliding out from under her blankets, she padded to her closet and changed into a pair of shorts, a slim-fitting tank top, and a loose, comfortable cardigan. She crossed to the door, and opened it quietly half expecting to find him sleeping on her couch. Ha-Jin had to stifle a giggle when she finally found him. He was asleep, alright – but not where she had thought she'd find him. He had clearly worked far into the night, and had fallen asleep with his face on the keyboard.

Curious, Ha-Jin paced silently towards him and peered over his shoulder at the still-open web page he'd last been looking at. She sighed and shook her head as she saw the title of the page - Eclipses and their Effect on the Space-Time Continuum. Well, some things never do change. Still the same Astronomer I knew in Goryeo. Still smiling, Ha-Jin grabbed a chair from her kitchen table and carried it quietly to sit beside her friend, taking a place beside him and gently rubbing his shoulder until his eyelids flickered and he stirred. "Good morning," she said quietly with a laugh in her voice. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Ji-Mong grunted and sat up, stretching the kinks out of his back with a groan, "As a matter of fact, I found some fascinating theories," he responded as he fixed his crooked glasses with a yawn, "It seems like you were caught in a sort of Space-Time Slipstream with our time as one point and Goryeo as the other. Fascinating." He glanced up to see Ha-Jin watching him with a laugh in her eyes, "Ah. Right. Sorry about that. You know how I can get sometimes. Anyway, let me tell you what I found..." For the next several hours, the pair discussed Space-Time Singularity theories, Slipstreams, Temporal Paradoxes, and so forth; a conversation any theoretical physicist would be proud to hear.

At last, Ha-Jin called a halt to the conversation, "If I don't get something to eat soon, there may well be nothing left of me to meet So if this crazy plan of ours actually works." Chuckling, Ji-Mong agreed and offered to take her to breakfast – an offer which she accepted gladly.

So jolted awake with a cry that he hurriedly stifled in the crook of his arm. What was that, he thought, startled. He'd had a strange dream that was quickly fading. He'd had an odd dream about Hae Soo and...Ji-Mong, of all people. They'd seemed to be discussing something about eclipses and temporal...something. From the little he'd been able to understand, it seemed like they were discussing ways to travel through time.

So tossed off his blankets and stood, pacing his room quietly, his long hair brushing his shoulders as he yanked the hairpin irritably from his head. Maybe it wasn't a dream, he though hopefully. Seeing her last week...Maybe it really happened. If that's the case...Then she must be trying to find a way to come home! So's heart thudded painfully in his chest at the thought, and he crossed to the other side of his room, pausing to look at his reflection in the polished bronze mirror hanging on the wall. He sighed as he started disdainfully at the scar that still marred his face and made it so that no woman would look at him until he had put on his makeup. Only Soo had dared to look at him without flinching – let alone touching his face.

He growled softly in his throat with frustration. "So," came a soft voice behind him.

So spun, his heart hammering in his chest. "You came back," he whispered. "I wasn't sure you would. Or that you could, even."

Hae Soo smiled at him, "Now that I've finally figured out how to see you again, how could I possibly stay away?"

Soo smiled radiantly, "I missed you. I thought it was just a dream, but I'm glad that I was wrong."

Hae Soo crossed to him in three long strides, throwing her arms around his waist and breathing deeply with her face buried in his chest, "You smell just the same as I remember. Oh, how I've missed that smell. I still wake up in my bed expecting to feel your warmth beside me, and I cry when I find it cold and empty."

So wrapped his arms around her opaque form, "Me, too." He sighed heavily, knowing that this visit was sure to be as short as the last.

Soo pulled gently away from him, reaching down to take hold of his hand, "There's something we need to discuss. It might be hard to understand, so please ask if you get confused." So nodded and followed as she led him by the hand back to his bed.

***Author's Note***

Phew. So, a bit longer chapter and definitely a happier ending. Hope you liked it! Lots of love!

- Lady Darkwind