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Sometimes,

it's better to stay confused.

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"...and that's how it ends." He cracked his knuckles after throwing his almost used up pen into the dustbin. It had been a long tedious task for him to write meticulously and now he just wants nothing else but to relax and unwind.

He stood up from his chair causing a faint creak to come out of it before he ambled to one of his cabinets. The door screeched open with difficulty as more dust particles suspended into the air. Coughing slightly, he smiled when his eyes spotted the familiar ting he was looking for. Grabbing it, his smile became even more wider when he found the watch still ticking despite its worn out appearance and state.

His thumb clicked a tiny button to the north-east side of the watch and the hands of the watch stopped before it began to move backwards and stopped at a particular time.

8:27 pm

He smiled once again and kept it back in its place before shifting the cabinet door close. He headed out and made sure to lock the door on his way out because he didn't wanted anyone else to see it before she does.

A click resounded in the hollow space.

Suddenly, the wind from the open window grew a little more violent and eradicated the curtains from the way. The moonlight from the full moon made its way to his desk and onto the papers. The papers flipped on their own until it reached the beginning of the pages where the title was beautifully calligraphed. The moonlight seeped into the words of the title and it seemed to glow despite the void, black ink.

The words lifted themselves from the pages and floated into the air until they formed the title.

'달의 시간'

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

"I'm extremely wary of your impulsive actions, Your Highness. I still do not quite believe your claims of hearing a completely different thing than what I am." Younggeum voiced out her doubts as she followed aimlessly behind the female who was 'finding' the source of the sound in her mind. Her body was swaying in different directions and wouldn't stay still causing Younggeum to take multiple annoying detours.

"Are your implying that I'm lying, then?" Younha asked a question instead to keep her busy.

"Cer-Certainly not, Your Highness." Younggeum stammered, "I am just questioning my state of mind as I do not quite hear the sound of this new thing called 'theremin' as you prescribed." Younha didn't fail to notice the slight sarcasm in her words when she paraphrased her words to be respectable which caused her to roll her eyes.

"Just follow me, I swear I am not lying! I do hear it! But how would you know? Since you can't peek into someone's head now, can you?" Younha snickered as her fingertips pressed on a random wall in assumptions of sensing the vibrations of the sound but weirdly, she found none. Which was strange as a theremin produces a lot of vibrations of different wavelengths which makes it quite a noticeable instrument.

"What are you doing?" Younggeum asked, perplexed at her sister-in-law imitating a clown, "You don't appear to be searching for the thing in your head."

"Shut up and let me concentrate," Younha retorted back, equally frustrated with herself and her idiotic antics now, "You are just trying to break my focus to keep me from finding that and deem me as a fool, aren't you?"

"Certainly not, Your Highness." She quoted back her words, but this time with cockiness.

They two walked hallways after hallways and would always end up finding themselves at the same spot. Younha approached the recorder but to her dismay, the sound wasn't coming from there which further sauced her suspicions but weirdly, Younggeum could hear the sound of the classical piano emitting from the piano.

Then, what was wrong with her?

After endless minutes of Younggeum blindly following her wherever she goes, she finally stopped in front of a door which seemed quite peculiar to her. Her eyes diverted in search of a particular female but she seemed to have walking without a soul now and was ahead of her.

"You Highness!" In a jiffy, Younha turned around with an exasperated sigh and looked at the female straight in the eye. She was tired after going through circles and circles over the same place and was about to go absolute bonkers if Younggeum hadn't called her and brought her back to the living realm.

"Was this door always here? Or is it just my wishful thinking?" Younggeum queried causing Younha to straight up again with regained energy and walk towards her with her slippers making loud flapping noises.

In her sight, came a wooden mahogany door that didn't match the aesthetic of the house. All the doors in this house were a shade of light brown as the owner hated the basic coffee colour a bit too much but this door— was painted with exactly that colour. There were rectangular indents made on the door and the round knob looked a rusted gold. She even spotted scratches and parts of the door where the wood was absent.

It really looked like an old door.

But how did she miss it if it stood out this much.

"I don't think so, did you pay attention whilst we were taking rounds?" Younha winced while speaking as the music in her head became a little too loud for her liking. In the response to her question, Younggeum shook her head as her curiousity and suspicion filled gaze raked over the object once more.

"No, Your Highness. I presume this doorway wasn't present until now. Or else you would have noticed it somehow."

"How is it possible then...?" Younha placed her fingertips on the door as she reached the indents but abruptly stopped when little vibrations prickled her skin. Her eyes became as wide as saucers when realisation struck her like a comet.

She had finally located the source of her trouble.

The Theremin.

"You might not believe me but I hear the sound going from inside it." Younha turned to looked at her to which Younggeum sent a look of suspicion back her way.

"I'm not very sure how to trust you on this but, if you are saying then it might be true. Are you decided that the sound is coming from here? This sure does look like queer door, I wouldn't recommend Your Highness to go in there." She frowned.

"It's okay," she waved it off, "Life hasn't been fruitful anyway." She chuckled at her own failed attempt to lighten her worries and placed a firm grip on the rusted knob. Both of them gulped when the knob began turning more and more towards right before it finally stopped rotating with a click.

But then, the all too familiar ticking came back into the picture.

The two bodies froze with time. Younggeum wore an expression of worry while Younha had one of relief and curiosity. A strand of hair which rebelled against all and decided to flow with the faint wind seemed stop. The dust particles in the air froze on their own accord and the whole house seemed just like a dollhouse.

Except that there wasn't anything that created memories.

It only froze them.

Tick, tick, tick.

"Do you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Younggeum asked as she placed the glass of water on the table. Younha inhaled the minty scent of the house as it pierced her nostrils, in a pleasant way. Her gaze unconsciously wandered off to the translucent window as the binds shielded them from the outside world.

"The sounds of birds chirping." She answered as the serene liquid washed down her throat.

"I do," a smile took over her features,"It is extremely calming. As if they are making me realise that it is fine to stop for a little and not rush on with life. Such little fragile beings with their short period of time on earth full with hardship but teach some of the really valuable morales. Such as hardwork, freedom, tranquility..."

Younha replicated her expression after hearing her true words but that soon dropped when a distant memory hit her head. Younggeum turned her way after noticing the lack of response from the latter and worry took over her when she spotted the look of fear residing on her features.

"What happened, Your Highness?"

Younha slowly looked up, her pupils dilating with eminent fear, "I feel like I'm forgetting something and I don't know what."

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

"Are you preparing to give the state examinations, Your Highness?"

"Indeed, General Park. All those lower state examinations have been cleared for good." The man smiled as he poured more oil into the lantern and tied his long hair into a makeshift bun.

"But, Your Highness. You will get the Kingdom no matter what, why are trying for the government positions? We all know you are far more qualified than that." The General tried to reason despite knowing the young prince would wave it off in the end as a silly remark.

"You wouldn't understand it General Park. I want to grow up as a good Emperor from my merits and not from heritage." He shook his head smiling as he turned another page of the book he was reading in his moonlit room.

"His Majesty isn't against of you giving the state examinations but please do remember that you are the only one in the Kim clan who'd be worthy of handling the throne. However, who put the idea of merit in your head? I believe you didn't quite believe in that for years and focused on being the perfect next Emperor."

A deep chuckle of happiness erupted from his throat that had the General questioning the Prince's state of mental health due to his sudden burst of laughter in the dead of the night.

"Her." He gushed as his irises twinkled in delight at the recollection.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

A/N: This might be utterly perplexing to some but the confusion is made on purpose. All of the questions will be answered in the end. (Hopefully, if I don't suck at writing and have y'all sugarcups more confused than the maths class)

Anygays, mamma loves you mwah! *cringes at thyself.