Kim Areum took a deep breath, standing at the edge of the rooftop of a fancy restaurant in the heart of Seoul. Her hand was still clutching an apron stained with spilled soup. Today was officially the worst day of her life.
"Areum-ssi, are you stupid or what?"
"How did a chef like you even make it to the finals if you can't even handle kimchi properly?"
Her boss's harsh words echoed in her head. She bit her lip, trying to hold back her anger. All she wanted was just a moment of peace... and now, here she was, standing at the very edge of the rooftop, gazing up at the starry night sky.
"I... just want... five minutes of freedom!" Areum whispered fiercely.
Suddenly, light rain began to fall. The rooftop became dangerously slippery. Before she could even react — Areum slipped!
"Ahhhhh—"
Plop!
But she didn't hit the ground.
She didn't crash onto a car.
Instead — she plunged straight into a strange pool hidden behind the restaurant, a pool rumored to be haunted for years.
The cold water bit into her skin. Everything became blurry. Areum felt herself being pulled into a swirling vortex...
"...Miss, wake up. Where are you from?"
A foreign voice echoed in her ears. Areum frowned and slowly opened her eyes. Standing before her was a young man dressed in bizarre clothes — like he had just stepped out of a Korean historical drama! He wore a full traditional hanbok, his hair neatly tied up.
Around her, there were no cars. No tall buildings. No neon lights. Only old wooden houses and crowds of people dressed like they belonged to a distant era.
"What the... Am I... on a drama set?" Areum mumbled, her face blank with confusion.
The young man raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled at her strange way of speaking.
"She's speaking in a foreign tongue..." whispered an old woman nearby.
"Could she be... the foretold maiden?" another villager said, eyes gleaming.
Before Areum could make any sense of what was happening, the young man said seriously,
"Miss, I must take you to the King immediately!"
"Haah?! The King?! I... I just wanted to go to Subway for a sandwich..." Areum blurted out instinctively.
The villagers grew more excited. Subway? Was that some kind of secret code from the gods?
The young man quickly grabbed Areum's hand.
"Come, quickly, before the Grand Minister finds out a stranger has entered the village!"
Still dazed and confused, Areum stumbled along behind him. "I... I didn't even bring my ID! I didn't clear immigration!" she cried, tripping over the worn-out hanbok she somehow now wore.
As they hurried towards the palace, Areum could only whisper to herself,
> "Kim Areum... you are officially insane."
"At the Royal Palace of Goryeo"
Areum stood in the middle of the grand palace hall, facing a group of richly dressed nobles and a strikingly handsome man clad in deep blue royal robes.
The man — Prince Wang Joon — stared at Areum with a mixture of blankness and suspicion.
"Your name?" Prince Joon asked firmly.
Areum swallowed hard.
She remembered the scenes from historical dramas — she should bow respectfully, answer politely.
But still flustered, she stood up straight like she was at a job interview and blurted out:
"Kim Areum, 24 years old, seeking full-time employment, Your Highness!"
Silence.
Everyone inside the hall just stared at her, completely blank-faced.
Prince Joon narrowed his eyes and slowly said,
"Full-time employment...? What do you mean, strange girl?"
Areum panicked.
"A-aish... I set the wrong script! This isn't a Job Interview Show!"
Prince Joon frowned. But behind his serious expression, something at the corner of his lips seemed to twitch — as if he was trying hard not to laugh.
"She's hilarious..." a court lady whispered, unable to hide her grin.
Meanwhile, Areum could only stand frozen, her face burning red.
She covered her cheeks and muttered to herself,
> "I must be dead, right? Is this heaven? Why are all the oppas in historical dramas so handsome?!"
To be continued...