Timeless Obsession

Prologue

Italic= flashback

Winter's P.O.V

"Where am I?" I groaned inwardly, struggling to get up. Every inch of my body ached as I rose and surveyed my surroundings. I found myself surrounded by an endless army of towering trees, their bare branches reaching into a gray sky. It was bitterly cold, the wind cutting through my hair and clothes, sending shivers down my spine.

Last I remembered, it hadn't been this cold in Seoul. It was supposed to be summer, not this wintry chill that gripped the air.

"Damn it, where am I?" I muttered aloud, my breath visible in the frosty air. I fumbled for my phone, pulling it from the pocket of my lab coat. "What kind of experiment did Giselle make me do?"

Confusion clouded my mind as I tried to piece together what had happened. The last thing I recalled was stepping into the strange, metallic contraption she had built in the lab—an experiment she claimed would change everything.

Earlier

"You sure this is safe Gigi?" I asked

"Yea! My ae said this is 100% safe and is proven to work. I just need you to umm... try it" She says smiling and beside her Ningning smiles suspiciously.

"Alright. This better be quick. I still have research to do later in my lab" I said and I went inside the metal hunk of machine.

Present

As I stood there, disoriented in the midst of unfamiliar surroundings, the bitter realization slowly dawned on me: I wasn't in Seoul anymore. Giselle's experiment had gone terribly wrong, hurling me into a place that felt both hauntingly alien and strangely familiar.

"Fucking Gigi," I grumbled under my breath, frustration boiling over. "I still have work," I complained, kicking a nearby stone that skittered across the cold ground.

Before I could collect my thoughts, a commanding voice cut through the quietude of the forest."You there! What do you think you're doing!?" demanded the deep voice from behind.

Startled, I spun around to face the source of the voice. Two men on horseback confronted me, their presence imposing and their attire starkly different from anything I had ever seen. They wore traditional garb reminiscent of the Joseon era of 1450—a time long past in history books.

The first man, tall and rugged, donned a dark robe adorned with intricate embroidery of dragons and phoenixes, symbols of power and nobility. His hat, a gat, sat firmly atop his head, its wide brim shielding his eyes from the sun's glare. Beside him, the second man, slightly younger with a determined gaze, wore a similar robe but with simpler designs, indicative of a lower rank.

I stood frozen, my mind racing to comprehend the impossibility of my situation. These were not actors in a historical reenactment. This was real. 

"Was the machine a-a-a... TIME MACHINE!" I shouted in realization