The next day Tae-eul awoke with a start. She checked her watch and saw it was almost midday. Sun was streaming through the curtains. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so deeply. She hadn't been woken in the night by flute music, for one thing, but she also hadn't had any nightmares. It was strange and wonderful to feel this refreshed. She showered and dressed quickly, making sure to tuck the flute inside her jacket before leaving the room.

She'd read "The King's birthday edition" magazine from cover to cover the previous night, but it had only given her small clues about Gon's life. It was the King's 34th birthday today, and there were rumours that he was going to make a big announcement about Corea's future queen. It sounded a lot like speculation, but Tae-eul's heart had still skipped a beat when she read that line. "An anonymous source from inside the palace has revealed the King has been ordering special bouquets. Who could they be for," the magazine asked, "if not his secret girlfriend?"

Tae-eul tried not to let the rumours get to her, but she couldn't stop certain thoughts from entering her head. She'd once told Lee Gon that she hated flowers. Did he remember that? Were the flowers for someone else?

She spent the next few hours searching for answers at an internet cafe. What she found did little to ease her mind. News sites were bursting with gossip about the King's mystery fiancée. Sources noted that the King had cancelled numerous evening engagements, but was often seen leaving the palace in formal attire. "Where is he going?" the internet wanted to know. "He returns to the palace late at night, or sometimes in the early hours of the morning," one columnist observed. "It seems like the behaviour of a man consumed by love."

One website listed all the women Lee Gon had been seen with at functions, including a famous actress and a gorgeous chaebol heiress named Go Jae Hwa. Tae-eul gaped when she saw the photo of Go Jae Hwa standing inches away from the King. She tried not to feel jealous, but it was hopeless. The woman looked like she was carved from crystal, the way her flawless skin shone in the light.

Tae-eul abandoned her search shortly after that. It was suddenly too hot in the stuffy computer room. She needed to get out.

She burst into the crisp afternoon air and decided to walk off her frustration. So what if the King was surrounded by beautiful women? It didn't mean a thing. All that mattered was finding Gon and figuring out if he still remembered her. She needed to come up with a plan. She dug around in her pockets for a hair tie, hoping to pull the hair back from her face, but couldn't find one. She gave up.

At least the walking was helping. She started to feel less anxious. She crossed a tree-lined park and was debating where to go next when she noticed a vehicle paused in the middle of the street. It was a black SUV with tinted windows. Something about the way it was idling there alerted her attention. She was about to take a closer look when she heard a shout from behind.

"Hey!"

She instinctively turned around.

"There you are!"

Jogging towards her, wearing one of the biggest grins she'd ever seen in her life, was Shin-jae. She froze. Was this a dream?

Instead of stopping when he reached her, Shin-jae closed the space between them and wrapped her into a tight bear hug, scolding her playfully, "Don't disappear like that again! I really missed you."

By this point she was 100% sure she was dreaming, so she replied into his shoulder "I missed you too." It was something she'd regretted in the months after the portal closed - that she'd never had a chance to say goodbye to her best friend. She hadn't realised how lonely she'd been without him. Memories came flooding back. She'd needed this hug.

Shin-jae relaxed his hold slightly and gazed down at her. His expression softened. "Wait a second," Tae-eul thought, "Shin-jae never used to look at me like that -"

What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion. Dream-world Shin-jae put a hand under her chin and began to tilt his head down. He was quickly closing the gap. Too quickly! Tae-eul panicked and grabbed his wrist. She yanked Shin-jae's hand down and used a martial arts technique to twist out from under him and pin his arm behind his back. She may have used too much force.

"Ow! Dammit!" Shin-jae shouted in confusion. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Tae-eul yelped back, "What are you doing?" She couldn't believe what had almost just happened. "Were you trying to kiss me?"

"Well yea, Luna, what do you expect? We've been dating for months!"

"Ahh!" Tae-eul shrieked, letting go of his arm and jumping back. This wasn't the friend she'd imagined. She'd been caught off guard.

"Kang Shin-jae?"

"Huh?" the doppelgänger looked annoyed.

"Is your name Kang Shin-jae?"

"No, you know it's not. Stop messing around Luna. What's going on?"

"I'm not Luna," she replied, wishing at that moment she could open up a portal and disappear. Her cheeks were flushed and her heart was still racing. She'd never felt so embarrassed.

"What do you mean?" His tone was impatient.

She was studying the ground.

"I said I'm not Luna. I'm someone else." She had to look up then, to see if he was following.

His expression wavered between exasperated and confused.

"Look, I know it's going to be hard to believe because I just said I missed you," she cringed and could feel herself going redder, "but you look exactly like my friend Shin-jae. I really thought you were him for a moment, and that's why I hugged you back… But I'm not from around here," she tried to explain.

She belatedly remembered the car and spun around to look for it, but it had long gone. "Damn it," she thought, turning back.

The Shin-jae clone was staring at her with narrowed eyes. "Show me, then," he demanded.

"Show you what?" Tae-eul asked, distracted.

"Your id."

Tae-eul's heart sunk. "Not this again," she thought with frustration. She could hardly show him her id card from the Republic of Korea. She'd only just met him, but she was pretty sure that would get her into trouble.

"I don't have one," she lied. "Like I said, I'm not from around here." She tried distracting him. "You never told me your name, by the way."

"You never told me yours," he shot back, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. She didn't know what Luna's personality was like in this world, but she could see he was starting to notice some differences in their behaviour.

She contemplated the danger of giving him her real name, and decided to risk it. "Jeong Tae-eul," she said, holding out a hand.

The doppelgänger reluctantly reached out and shook it. "Ok…" he said, sounding doubtful, "I'm Kang Hyeon-min."

"Hyeon-min! Nice to meet you." There was still a lot of tension between them. Tae-eul attempted to diffuse it.

"Would it help if I listed random facts about myself, so you can tell for sure I'm not Luna?" He didn't respond. He was simply staring at her now. "For instance: I grew up in Seoul. My father owns a taekwondo studio. I've never broken a bone. I work for the police."

"You're an officer?" Hyeon-min asked in astonishment. Tae-eul nodded.

"So am I. So is Luna..." he trailed off helplessly.

"Really?" Tae-eul was interested now. "That's exciting! How is Luna these days?"

"Do you know her?" Hyeon-min sounded suspicious.

"No," Tae-eul tried to recover, "but I'm curious about this person you say looks just like me."

Hyeon-min's posture stiffened slightly. Tae-eul could tell that something was wrong. It wasn't a movement a stranger would have picked up on, but Tae-eul had known Shin-jae better than anyone, and Hyeon-min's body language was identical.

"I'm not sure," he finally admitted, looking miserably at the ground. "She disappeared a week ago without a word."

There was an ache in his voice. Tae-eul wanted to comfort him, but didn't know how. "Where did you last see her?"

"At the station," he answered automatically. "She was leaving for a check up."

Tae-eul felt a pang of dread. Was Luna also sick in this timeline? Did Hyeon-min know? "Which hospital?" she asked him.

Hyeon-min studied her for a long while and then sighed. "I don't know why I'm telling you any of this. You're clearly not Luna, but you look identical... you could be her twin. I can't get over it."

"I can help you find her, Hyeon-min," Tae-eul insisted. She had all these useless memories of the times they'd spent together, which weren't worth a thing in this world, but she couldn't simply erase them. After all their years of friendship, she wanted at least one version of Shin-jae to be happy. She'd find a way to track down Lee Gon, but first she needed to fix this. "Which hospital did she visit?"

Hyeon-min ran a hand through his hair and gave her a searching look.

"I must be going crazy," he said quietly.

"I know the feeling," Tae-eul replied.

"It was the one in Gudeok," he finally told her.

"Good. We'll start there."