As a Fixer, it's Jane's job to go back to the past and make sure certain events happen as they should. But when her unit breaks down one day, she finds herself stuck in 15th century Korea.
With blond hair and blue eyes she soon discovers life can be...
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He carries me through the forest and I wait for the next question. His voice is deep and warm and no longer scares me.
"Why is your hair made of gold?"
I tighten my lips and try not to giggle. Even if it's clearly not meant as a compliment, the question is so adorably cute, it takes me a few seconds to compose my face, before I can answer. "Where I come from, it's a normal hair color."
He must hear the smile in my voice, because his jaw tenses. "And the eyes?"
"Same", I almost squeak.
I go up and down as he takes a deep breath. "I've never heard of a place like that."
My smile fades. "It's very far away", I whisper, blinking against new tears.
"Do you have to walk back?"
This time, the laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it. "No, thank heavens, that would be impossible."
When I look up at him, I see the difficult expression as he tries to process my answers. I can never make him understand, it's best if I don't say too much.
Evening falls way too fast, the sun is almost down when Gi-Kyong finally sets me down. I hardly recognize the place. Is this where I landed? Where I was attacked? Speaking softly and eyeing around for sudden soldiers who emerge from behind trees, I ask: "Are we near the palace?"
He looks at me as if I've gone mad.
"No? But, those guards, I thought ..." It was supposed to be where my mission should have taken place. Could it be that more than the fail-safe malfunctioned?
There's no time to worry about that now. I need to find my dot, go back, forget this ever happened and figure out a way to get my unit fixed. Let's face it, what good is a Fixer without a functioning work-unit? The initial offer is sort of a loan, a Fixer in training has to pass a few exams and receives a unit with which he or she works for three years, after that the loan becomes an investment. Any repairs, however, have to be paid for by the Fixer and all of my money flies out the window due to rent, food and loans I'm still paying off from my parents burials.
That's what's gotten me in this mess in the first place. I should have fixed my unit long ago, but the only way to fix it is by taking on more missions, which in turn, damages the unit even further.
I pull myself out of my misery, drop down on my knees and begin to search.
"What are you doing?"
"I need to find my dot. It's small and silvery and I cannot go home without it." My hands shuffle through fallen leaves, disturbing ants and beetles and uprooting little seedlings. Soon my fingernails are dark brown. My shoulder and foot hurt and there is so much ground to cover and the sun is almost down. Stupid tears try to cloud my vision and I don't realize I'm actually crying until Gi-Kyong pulls me up from the floor and holds my shaking body against him.
