Chapter 9: release from ICU and new clothes

1 month later

Current Yeon

I was training with my other self and Hong-ju when both of us were knocked to the ground. We looked at each other and at the same time said, “Rose’s bandage dissolved.” My reaction was to sigh in relief compared to my other self to stand up and start bawling his eye out. I heard Hong-ju comforting him and calming him down, so I dusted off my clothes before heading to my room to wash up. A voice called to me across the courtyard “Yeon please come with me to Rose’s room.” I walked into the room to find Moo-young checking her energy levels “come sit down next to her. You are here in case anything happens while I take down the interior barrier.”

I watched as he wiped away the markings on the walls, my arms had started to hug rose without me realising it. I ended up bracing her in case of any reaction, luckily she kept on sleeping through the whole process. Moo-young looked very relieved when nothing happened with the barrier and I went to remove my arms from Rose when we heard a sleepy voice. “Please don’t let go it feels nice and warm”, I understood she was feeling cold without the protection of her physical body, so I kept the hug going. Moo-young sat down and declared “your telepathy and sensing rest are over, but I don’t want you overusing them while your gets used to the new level. “I am also giving you permission to leave this room for short periods of time” he paused then continued. “You will need one of us with you as we don’t know the walking capacity your core has compared to your physical body.”

I felt her take a deep breath then I heard {testing 1-2-3} at a slow place, she felt tense while sending the message. I whispered in her ear, “don’t be hard on yourself that was a good attempt”, I felt her relax and a small smile appeared on her face. “Do you want to try again while sensing where your Yeon is?” Moo-young asked. She took another deep breath then there was silence in the room; all of a sudden, we heard footsteps running toward the room and in ran future Yeon with a wide smile on his face. Internally I was cringing at how fast he came running but really proud of Rose getting over this bump in the road. I knew she was going to be a great younger sibling for me.

I signalled with my head for him to come over to where I was and I whispered in his ear “take my place and keep on hugging her till she falls asleep.” We quickly traded places without our sister noticing and I watched as she quickly fell asleep. A happy smile formed on my face as I left the room to give them time as I had a feeling they had been through some traumatic things.

There was nagging feeling in my heart that there were more tough times ahead for them, I was sure they would get through them even stronger.

Rose

I opened my eyes to find my brother lying next to me, there was a vague recollection of a Yeon keeping me warm in my memory.

He stirred and greeted me with a sleepy “good afternoon sister”, he let me go to wake his body up with a stretch and then asked “are you able to sense any holes in your core?” His question made me realise my life had changed two months and I was only able to sense it now. My core felt whole and stronger than it had in 236 years; this gave me hope for the future. “all holes have been filled and I can feel the energy moving at a steady pace, with none of it leaking out” I replied.

A voice startled us “I’m glad to hear that as I have been given permission from moo-young to get you kitted out for 1938. I have an outfit for you to borrow and a wheelchair for you to use while in public” Hong-ju paused before continuing “your hair has grown over the two months so it could do with a trim and the right styling. you don’t need to worry as you are coming to carry her up and down the stairs along with moving her around at the salon.” “One problem Hong-ju my vision hasn’t returned so I won’t be much help with picking out clothes” I pointed out. She walked over to my bed, helped me sit up and gave a big warm hug. “you can trust me with making sure you look the part and are still able to move around once your vision returns.”

I was sure Hong-ju was smiling by the tone of her voice, I was taken out of my thought by two bowls being putting on the table. Before Yeon could help me eat my bowl of rice porridge, Hong-ju picked it up and helped me eat while he ate. {Thank you to both of you for the help while I recover} “a five hour nap seems to have improved the speed of your telepathic messages Rose” Yeon commentated. After eating I was carried to Hong-ju’s room to get changed into outside clothes and she picked out a simple outfit. My red shoulder length hair was tied into a ponytail and pinned out of the way. Once a pair of simple sturdy shoes were put on my feet and I was carried to the car.

I was joined by Yeon, Hong-ju and Yoo Jae-Yoo who was driving. My sensing ability was replacing my eyes since my eyesight needed more time to return. We reached the boutique so I waited in the car while the chair was taken out the boot.

The familiar voice of the Water Snail Bride called out to Hong-ju and Yeon as she wheeled the chair to my open door. “Lord Yeon and Hong-ju nice to see you again”, I transferred in the chair and then I got pushed towards the stairs where Yeon was waiting to carry me up. The chair and I made it to the top of the stairs, and my legs were covered up by a blanket to keep me warm.

Once inside I was pushed to the couch so I could transfer on to it, while this was happening Hong-ju explained the situation to Bok Hye Ja allowing her help pick out my wardrobe. “It’s nice to meet you Rose, Hong-ju told me you need a wardrobe to fit in while you are here in our time” she confirmed. “that is correct, as you can see I am temporary without my vision so I trust Yeon, Hong-ju and yourself to pick out suitable items” I explained to her. After this I heard on my left and right was the sound of clothes being looked through and I felt a gentle wind around my body when someone wanted to check a piece against my skin tone. I listened to the sounds around that they started to put me to sleep, so I was staled when I heard Yeon’s voice. “before you doze off rose, we have a few walking sticks that will suit the clothes picked out for you. Once the right one has been chosen you can take a nap ok?”

I nodded my head sleepily while yeon helped me stand up and stayed on one side to help support me. The first stick was placed in my hand, I tested out how sturdy it felt in my hand and if it could support my other side. This process was repeated until the right stick was found and I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

Snail bride

I was putting away the rejected walking sticks so I was surprised to find Rose asleep in Lord Yeon’s arms, “my lord it would be more comfortable for her to rest in the spare bedroom. “ He thought about it for a second then picked her up, “you are looking for the second room on the right” and he disappeared up the stairs. Hong-ju and I looked over the list:

• 5 day dresses
• 3 full slips
• 2 half slips
• 4 skirts
• 4 blouses
• 2 sweaters
• 2 pairs of shoes
• 1 hat
• 1 coat
• undergarments
• two piece pj’s
• 1 pair of gloves
• 1 bag

“Is there anything else she needs from here or can you provide the rest hong-ju?” I asked her, she paused for a moment then replied with “i have the rest of the items she might need back at Myoyeongak so don’t worry.” The clock chimed 5pm and I had a great idea “please stay for dinner as its been a while since we have caught up.” her reply was “we accept your offer Hye Ja” and I decided “i will start cooking our dinner.”

Hong-ju

I headed to the spare room, and I knocked quietly before entering to find both of them fast asleep with Yeon hugging her. I turned to leave the room when I spotted a red string out of the corner of my eye. Quietly I got closer to make sure it wasn’t my imagination and sure enough, there was a red string connecting the two of them. I had a light bulb moment as to why the future Yeon was falling asleep when he was around Rose; he was the stronger link to their physical bodies. He was unconsciously helping to keep their temporary bodies appear in solid form and this took a lot out of him. A smile appeared on my face as I saw him being a good big brother, so I headed towards the kitchen.

The smells coming out of the kitchen were making my mouth water and I had to stop myself drooling before I entered. She looked in her element while cooking; she was dancing along to the record player and she had the biggest smile on her face. I sat down to find a cup of tea waiting for me, “you know me so well Hye Ja. Your cooking is always amazing, have you ever thought of opening a restaurant after the war?” I complemented her. “Thank you Hong-ju, cooking and sewing are my key skills so a restaurant is not out of the question later on when there is less need for my sewing skill. You are always welcome here; dinner is still an hour away so no need to wake our visitors from the future yet.” for the next hour we caught up on the gossip which had passed through the boutique social matters and we were able to catch up on the latest underground news due to the markings on the walls.

Moo-young had placed anti-eavesdropping markings on the upper floor and the basement which allowed our group to help defend Joseon from the Japanese occupation. The hour passed quickly with the two of us chatting and cooking together. Six chimes were heard downstairs letting us know it was six o’clock, she turned to me “i can handle the rest its time to wake our sleeping beauties down the hall.” I softly chuckled when I heard Yeon and Rose described as such, a part of him was slightly princess like so it suited him along with his sister. I went to the spare room and opened the door so the smell could waft into the room and after two minutes I heard a nose sniffing the air. Rose’s blind eyes opened up next thing I heard was {where is that Delicious smell coming from?}, I was able to respond with “the snail bride cooked dinner for us” before I got interrupted by Yeon.

He asked sleepily “hong-ju?” and I knew he was asking how he got to be asleep with his arms around Rose without using words.

“The two of you are linked by a red string and before you ask, I will talk discuss it while we eat dinner which is ready. Yeon, you need to release Rose from the bear hug.” He looked down to see his arms wrapped around her and immediately let her go {I’m sorry sis for the bear hug}. Before Rose could reply her stomach interrupted with a loud growl; “alright that’s enough talking Yeon pick your sister up and follow me to the dining room” I directed him. We headed to the dining room which was located next to the kitchen and waiting for us was Hye Ja.

She hid a laugh as Yeon walked in sideways to fit through the door with Rose in his arms. I sat down in the second seat on the right from Hye Ja’s seat and directed him to place her in the seat on her right and sat down on her left. Rose reached out to find her glass of water so I placed the glass at 10 o’clock and let her know {your water is at 10 o’clock.} She found it and took a sip, I asked her “do you want to know which dishes are on the table or are you happy to let us serve your food?” Tiredly she replied “I trust you guys to put the right amount of food on my plate” so between myself and the snail bride we made sure she had enough. I let her know where the spoon and fork were located, along with a napkin on her lap and one tucked into her neckline to protected it.

There was another napkin allowing her to clean her hands as it was clear Rose was going to partiality use her hands. It was good seeing her enjoying her food as this was a good sign of her energy stabilising and I hope this led to her mobility improving in both bodies. “I mentioned a red string when I woke you and while we cooked dinner, I realised Yeon you are the anchor to both of your physical bodies. The surgery Moo-young did would have failed if you weren’t here so it seems the old hag knew your sister wasn’t safe on her own.” Hye Ja interjected “we know Taluipa has to keep a neutral stance in public but it’s amazing how much in private she cares for those who become like kids. Its a pity she has to hide it behind that cold professional mask and I can see how much you mean to Lord Yeon with how gentle he treats and carries you.”

I saw Yeon start to blush when she started to complement him and I kicked him under the table, which I received a glare back from him. Hye Ja started to giggle at the sibling behaviour Yeon and I were showing and she whispered into Rose’s ear describing our behaviour. A cackle rang out from Rose’s mouth and her eyes matched the happy energy. This positive energy was a good way to end the meal as I read her body language and Rose was trying to mask her physical tiredness. When all the food had been consumed I announced “it’s time we headed back as I can see a certain someone needs to sleep” and I sent a message to rose {its ok to show when you are tired.} her response was to allow her body to doze off so I got Yeon to carry her to the car. “Hye Ja please deliver the clothes to Myoyeongak and thank you for this afternoon including this lovely dinner, it was good to catch up with you.” I grabbed Rose’s borrowed shoes and headed towards the car so we could get Rose back in her bed.