Chapter Text
it's been getting kinda scary alone clenching my teeth watching my anxiety get me
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For the last week and a half, Jongseong has woken up next to a woman who is now his mom while he's stuck in the body of a small child with green eyes. It wouldn't be such a big deal if he had agreed to doing this- but alas, he didn't agree and it is a big deal. He has woken up every day this last week and done the same routine with his mother over and over again- eating breakfast in the morning, walking all the way to the shop across town, watching the woman sew clothes, close up shop, walk all the way back to the cottage, shower, and sleep.
He felt bad even doing it since the woman was under the impression that this was her normal son, Jay, when that was the furthest thing that Jongseong was. Jongseong didn't belong here, never wanted to be here, and he wanted out as soon as possible. Every night before he finally went to sleep, Jongseong would sneak out of bed and look at the starry sky. The moon was getting smaller and smaller each night but the rest of sky was absolutely breathtaking. The sky was the only thing making this whole teleportation thing bearable, if he were to be honest. The night sky in Seoul was the furthest thing to the sight he had before him, and that was enough to comfort him to sleep.
Today was Friday, which meant the woman was going to close shop early today so they could peruse around the town market for a few hours.
Honestly, Jongseong hadn't explored much outside the shop before, despite the woman's gentle pleads for him to go play with the other kids. He wasn't really sure if he was ready to leave by himself in case he got lost or kidnapped. But today was a little different, for some reason. Jongseong wanted nothing more but to explore the surrounding area around the shop. As soon as the sign had been flipped over, he told the mother he would be back before noon and went out into the street. He had become somewhat familiar with the layout of the streets and at least knew how to go to the kabob stall a few streets down and back. So, that's exactly where he went.
The old man who was usually in front of the stall was replaced by a woman around his mother's own age with bright hazel eyes. The woman seemed somewhat familiar but he couldn't quite place it. She saw his figure and immediately called out to him.
"Oh, Jay-ah! How have you been? Where's your mother?" She asked excitedly.
"Oh, h-hello. Mother is at the shop," he replied coyly, his hand scratching behind his neck in an almost defensive way.
"No need to be shy, Jay-ah. Come, come! Sit," she beckoned, pulling out a stool for him. "What type of aunt would I be if I didn't send my handsome young nephew back with a full belly?"
Jongseong was taken aback by the statement. This woman was his aunt? It somewhat explained the familiarity but there was something about this scene that just seemed too... off- as if he'd seen it before in a dream or on a television screen.
"Thank you, auntie," Jongseong had mumbled to himself.
The woman went ahead and began by grilling meat on the fire, cutting up small slices of vegetables on the side and grilling those, too. The boy had looked around the street and noticed a couple of kids kicking around a small ball between the five of them. Among the four boys was one girl with brightly colored green eyes. Green eyes weren't exactly common in Korea but the amount of green eyes he's seen these past few days is concerning. Maybe it was a manga thing.
The aunt had finished a dozen pork kabobs and served two to Jay before calling over the group of kids.
"Here you go, Minwoo. Siyeon, don't overeat. Jongun, please share. Here you go..." the kids had lined up, the girl in the back of the line, still panting while holding the ball.
"And last but not least, here's a snack, Hyejin."
Oh shit. Holy shit. Oh my god. That was her- that was Hyejin from the manga. Stay calm. Stay calm, Jongseong. Keep it cool.
"Thank you, mother," the young girl called out before skipping over to the group of boys.
Okay, maybe this girl wasn't Hyejin. Yeah, maybe it wasn't her at all. There have to be plenty of girls with the name Hyejin, right? And plenty of girls with green eyes and silky black hair. Yeah, no biggie. Plus her mom has normal hazel eyes which could still be considered green, so Hyejin's eyes are completely normal!
Except, it was a biggie, because right as Jongseong had whisked away his thoughts, he saw it from the corner of his eye. A mole. Not just any mole but a mole on Hyejin's right cheek, right next to her lip just as it had been drawn in the manga. Okay, now it's time to freak out.
"Jay-ah, how are the kabobs?" The aunt had asked him. What was he supposed to say?
They taste like the biggest realization in my young adult life? Obviously not.
"They taste really good, auntie!"
"I'm glad! Tell your mom I say hi when you get back to the shop, okay? And tell her to come visit me! She spends all her time cooped up in front of her sewing machine and she'll die before the age of forty."
Jongseong awkwardly laughed at that and thanked the woman before heading off, a half-eaten kabob still in his hand. Had Jongseong really paid that much attention to such an annoying manga before? Sure, he had binged sixty chapters in one go but he had barely skimmed over most of the romance chapters. He was really in it for the well-drawn action scenes the mangaka was really known for.
He began to walk back to the shop, looking around at the shops around him. The streets were laid with bricks, each house giving off a medieval European vibe that was shown in the manga, with wooden supports and stucco walls that reminded him of the outskirts of the city. Just before his turn back down the street to the mother's shop, Jongseong spotted a book shop across the way. It still technically wasn't noon yet, so he had a few minutes to spare and he wanted to at least try to gather a little information while he could.
The store wasn't huge but had a large selection of books to choose from. Luckily, the writing was all in a language he could somehow understand so he was able to browse for specific readings. He saw a section full of books on different types of magic and decided to look there to see if there was anything on teleportation magic.
The first book he picked up seemed more so a text book on how to harness any magic the user may have rather than details about the magic itself. Another book seemed innocently like a children's fairytale with ornate drawings and large print words on each page.
When the earth was born, the skies were black. From the darkness, a snake came down into the waters and made the ground we stand upon. The grounds sprung forth a single flower which the snake lived. The snake protected the flower but was soon found by another being that also came from the sky- a large bird with six wings. This bird wanted the flower to himself but the snake did not want to give up his flower, so the two fought. Everywhere the two went, new life grew, creating trees and plants, cows and fish and other animals. Eventually the two stopped fighting and decided to split their territory- the snake would stay in the water and the bird would fly in the sky so neither could have the precious flower. However, the flower had already been claimed by a human while the two were fighting, thus making the human the overseers of the land.
The human that had the flower eventually had children, and those children had children and so on, however only the true heirs of the first human could protect the flower so the successors of the flower became the rulers over the other humans. One heir of the flower named Juniel did not have kids and instead of choosing their next successor, Juniel ate the flower. This flower created magic as we know it- light, dark, fire, earth, air, water and celestial- and eating the flower created a large spread of magic to the people around Juniel.
Juniel became the first user of Divine Magic, a special type of power that allows the user to use all seven types of magic at once and each generation is chosen by the last user, creating a separation on earth where the Kingdom is ruled by the Leader and the Divine User is the head of the Church. One day, there will be a ruler who will be both the Leader and the Divine User, bringing a new era of peace to the world.
Jongseong already knew the whole portion about the Divine User since the first season of Unexpected Princess ended with none of the factions being able to find the Divine user. However, none of the other stuff about this new era of peace was mentioned and he has to wonder if it just wasn't a big deal to the plot, if he wasn't paying attention, or if the author hadn't mentioned it yet. Jongseong was secretly leaning towards that second option. He also wondered if this was just a fairytale for kids since the little drawings on each page are colored in.
The boy had found another little book about magic, hoping this one would actually have information on teleportation, but this one just seemed to be another manual on magic in general. The sun was impossibly bright at the moment and it seemed to be Jongseong's signal to go back to the shop.
A ten minute walk later and he was inside the small store, watching the mother talk to a man in a butler's outfit. She handed over a box of folded clothing to the man and he passed her a neat envelope, his polite smile never leaving his face.
"Thank you, Daehyung. Please tell Master Yang my sincere thanks," the mother says.
"Is this the boy?" The man eyes over Jay's appearance, a slight nod in his gaze.
"Oh, yes. This is my child, Jay."
Jongseong does his best to give a slight bow to the older man out of politeness, but ends up stumbling due to the stinging in his toes. These shoes were way too tight on him for some reason.
"It's very nice to meet you, Sir Jay. I hope we can expect something of him in the future," the man boldly announces before returning to a whisper. "His highness doesn't know, correct?"
The mother shook her head in response, knuckles turning white around the envelope. Jongseong could not gage whether it was out of anger or fear.
"They may take him if I speak."
The man nods once before carrying the full weight of the box in his hands.
"Then, I shall take my leave. Nice meeting you, Sir Jay."
The whole interaction was bizarre but Jongseong didn't want to dwell on it. After the man left with his box full of clothes, the mother began to lock down the shop since the sun was already high in the sky.
"Are you ready to go to market, Jay-ah? Is there anything you would like to have?" She asked in a gentle voice, her bonnet tied neatly around her head. Luckily, Jongseong thinks that the time he was teleported to was definitely summer, so he still could tell what day it was throughout the season. It explains the bonnet, the lighter fabric used on the dresses and the parasols a lot of the women have.
"Um, mother, I was wondering if I could stop by the bookstore on the corner?" He asked quietly, hoping that this question wouldn't expose him in any way. Let's hope he could read in this new reality of his.
"The bookstore? I thought you said the owner was too scary?"
Jongseong felt a huge wave of relief but didn't want to celebrate the feeling just yet.
"Yes but... Um, I saw a cool book there! The- the pictures! Yes, the pictures were so pretty," he tried to sound as convincing as possible but somehow, he kept messing up. Had he always stuttered this much before?
"Hm, alright. Last time we saw a book there, you gave it to Hyejin. Are you going to give this one to her, too?"
"No, eomma. Not at all! I really like this one for myself. I promise."
"Hm, alright, Jay, but if I hear from your Aunt Saera that she found another book, I won't buy another one."
Jongseong nodded and held onto the mother's outstretched hand. It felt wrong that he couldn't tell such a kind-hearted woman that he wasn't her son but just a random dude from another dimension chilling in her kid's body. He felt bad even thinking of her in a motherly way. Where did the original Jay go? Why was he here now? Jongseong wasn't going to hear that answer until the next full moon, and even then, he wasn't sure what the man with the mask was going to tell him.
Him and the mother walked down the street to the tiny bookstore from earlier and walked into a room that completely enveloped their senses with the smell of leather and paper and ink. Maybe he didn't notice it earlier because he was too busy trying to find a book on magic, but the light in this store felt warmer than usual, as if it were going to lull him to sleep. It was nice on his skin and the calming scent of the books really was starting to seep into the corners of his consciousness.
"Okay, Jay. Show eomma which book you liked."
Jongseong was going to get the fairytale book he had read earlier but couldn't find it amongst the pile he had left it in. Instead, a new book which he hadn't seen before seemed to be calling out to him. The cover was a dull leather but there were no words on it, just a gold painting of a tiny flower on the cover. He quickly flipped through the pages and saw dozens of pictures of the wormhole he had been through mixed with pictures of cats and flowers.
He handed the book over to the mother who scanned it and nodded once.
"This is the book?"
"Yes," he answered not as confident as he hoped to but it didn't seem to matter. The mother nodded once and brought it to the shopkeep, a younger teenage boy with round specks and dotted freckles all over his cheeks.
"Is that all? It'll be one silver coin, please."
The mother nodded and slid over the coin. He nodded and the two went on their way, out of the tiny bookstore and down the streets of Seonyorae, the main town of the kingdom. The mother and the boy went deeper into the market than they had during previous days, their hands connected the entire way. Jongseong held onto the book as if it was his last lifeline and watched the mother stop at different stalls to get groceries for their cottage.
One stall near the very end was selling shoes and the boy silently wished to change out of the horrendous traps on his feet. By evening, they had settled for a tavern near the cottage where they could silently have dinner instead of the regular inn they went to that was probably full of drunk soldiers and even less sober bards crawling about the place.
After their peaceful dinner, the two slowly walked back home to the cottage, Jongseong admiring the plethora of stars that had presented themselves. At the doorstep, the mother told him to stay and wait while she put the groceries away before coming back out with a blanket and popsicles.
"Come, child. Let's go sit in the meadow."
Her hand reached out for his and they walked down a small dirt path into a clearing of wild flowers and tall grass. Fireflies raced all around them in the light humid heat of the summer night.
"Jay-ah, I need to talk to you."
Jongseong's heart began to race. She figured it out. He was going to be killed. This kind woman was going to murder him for stealing her son's body. He's not actually Jay and he's been found out. Oh god.
"It's about your father and where I came from."
Okay, so maybe he was exaggerating a tad bit.
"You've always asked me where your father is and why so many nobles come to our shop."
Yeah, sounds like something he'd ask.
"Well, this last week and the way you've been acting has made me realize that you're getting older. You are no longer going to be the little boy I raised here alone. Jay-ah, do you know who I am?"
Jongseong was tempted to nod just to get it over with but hell, he has no fucking clue and apparently, neither did Jay. So he shook his head and the woman laughed.
"Eomma is the king's sister. Do you know the king's name?"
Jongseong wasn't quite sure how to feel about this reveal. She could be completely lying to him but this was something you don't just say for shits and giggles. Plus, it explains why there are so many nobles at the store every day.
"King Sihyuk of the Bang family," Jongseong whispered, silently eating his popsicle. It also explains why she could afford books since books aren't exactly easy to buy for people in lower classes.
"Yes. Exactly. King Sihyuk. Your Eomma is that man's older sister. Now, Jay-ah, do you know who the current Divine User is?"
He froze in his spot. If this was something he was supposed to know, it wasn't really mentioned in the manga and he hasn't heard anyone say who it was on the streets. So he shook his head no, hoping the mother wouldn't think too much of it.
"The Divine User is someone I grew up close to. No one knows his real name except for only a few people. But that man is your father."
Why are there so many crazy reveals today? Next thing you know, Jay is secretly going to overtake the throne and kill Bang Sihyuk. That won't actually happen, right?
"Jay, you weren't allowed to be born because once a Divine User is chosen, they aren't allowed to get married or have children. As soon as I found out I was expecting you, I ran away here with the help of a few members of the high society. Once you reach adulthood, you will rejoin that society with the help of those men. Until then, you will be safe here in the cottage with me."
What the fuck. Honestly, Jongseong would rather have to sit through a talk of this mother finding out he had accidentally possessed her child than find out that the kid he accidentally possessed is somehow the secret heir to the throne. What sort of fucked up chain of events is this? He was ready for the full moon to come so he could question the hell out of the man in the mask. Why him and why now? Those two thoughts continued circulating his brain.
The two silently finished their popsicles under the moonlight and went back to their cottage for their showers.
The next three weeks were full of the same things in the same order but Jongseong couldn't say he hated it. He got to watch the mother sew during the weeks, appreciating her careful hands and pretty stitches, her hand sewn pieces often coming out even more elaborate than the ones from the machine. A few of the days where barely any customers came in, the two sat down and she would "teach" Jongseong how to sew and praise him for his straight stitches. She even gave him some paper for him to design some pieces on which she carefully analyzed and began to make- whether it was out of curiosity or out of pure love for the boy.
Fridays became sacred days for the pair to eat their popsicles and watch the stars shine for an hour while talking about topics that came up in conversation. It was the most peaceful time of the week for him and he began to anticipate those upcoming Fridays.
On the night of the full moon, Jongseong had waited all day with a strange buzz in his bones. He had stayed up way past the mother and stared outside the window at the full moon. He felt a strange connection to it that he didn't feel when he was in Seoul.
Finally, the fated meeting seemed to call to him, his eyes feeling heavier and heavier. The boy slipped back under the covers with the sleeping mother and succumbed to the darkness of the room.
The dream started with a blurry wind of colors moving past him and he immediately followed the trail, seeing a square shaped light at the end of the trail. All the way down, he saw the long haired magician waiting, his white hair caught by the moonlight and his mask seemingly more elaborate than before
"Park Jongseong. Welcome back. Please, sit down."
A chair seemed to appear before him out of nowhere and the boy sat down. The mans gruff tone did not seem to be one you'd want to mess with.
"It's been a month since you came to this world. My deepest apologies for bringing you here so suddenly but there are urgent matters I need to attend to. Your mother and you are in danger. Hear me out, boy. Next Wednesday, instead of going home like you usually do, take her to the bookstore on the corner. A colleague of mine will be waiting to guide you two to safety."
Jongseong nodded, skeptical of the man but listening anyways.
"Now, look, Jongseong. I know how jarring it must be for you to be in this position but I want to get you on the throne and to do that, you need to commit. You don't have to forget your old life but I need you to really play the role of Jay. You are the only one who can do it. Your world has given you clues that I cannot know. Only you have the power to get the corrupt away from what is rightfully yours."
"Why me? Why me of all people?" Jongseong finally spoke up. It's the one answer he has wanted since the beginning and he had wanted nothing more than to have a reason as to why he was ripped away from what he knows and loves.
"I can't say much else but your soul is special. Your soul belongs here in Jay's body. Now, Jongseong, We don't have much time left but next month, we need to practice a few things for you to fit in better."
"Sir, that's not a good reason-" Jongseong began to whine, his nose already crinkling up in annoyance but the man cut him off.
"Time's up. Here, have a gift."
The man pulled out a glass ball and threw it straight at Jongseong's face, the boy bringing his arms up to shield himself. Nothing hit. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Hyejin in her bed, reading a book that was not hers.