Yoon Ha-eun had a special talent.

Not Singing.

Not studying.

Not sports.

No.

She was professionally talented at falling over nothing.

Which was exactly how she ended up tumbling down a muddy slope behind the old walking trail, arms flailing, dignity long gone.

"WHY is the group SLIPPERY when it hasn't even rained?!" she yelled at nature, as if nature owned her an explanation.

Her sneaker skidded. Her bag swung forward. Her foot missed the path completely.

And then_

There was no ground.

Only air.

And a very surprised, very undignified scream.

"AAAAAA _"

SPLASH.

The lake swallowed her whole.

The water was freezing, stealing the air from her lungs. Ha-eun kicked wildly, arms thrashing in pure panic. Her thoughts raced faster than her heartbeat.

I can't swim properly _ why didn't I listen in P.E. _ THIS IS SUCH A STUPID WAY TO DIE _

But just as darkness crept into her vision.

The water changed.

It grew warm. Not just warm _ glowing. Soft blue light curled around her like ribbons, wrapping around her waist, her ankles, her hair floating around her face like she was drifting in the sky instead of sinking in a lake.

She stopped struggling.

Because she wasn't falling down anymore.

she was falling... sideways.

The lake dissolved into light. The cold disappeared. The pressure in her ears vanished.

And then_

THUD.

Ha-eun crashed face-first onto something very solid.

"...ow".

She lay there for a moment, cheek pressed against smooth stone, wondering if this was what the afterlife felt like.

It smelled weirdly like incense.

She groaned and rolled onto her back.

Above her was the night sky.

Okay, normal.

But then she sat up.

And nothing else was normal.

Tall red pillars surrounded her. Lanterns hung in perfect rows, glowing gold. The buildings had curved tiled roofs, painted in colors so rich they didn't look real. Silk banners fluttered gently in the night breeze.

And standing in a wide circle around her...

Were dozens of people in hanbok.

Real hanbok.

Not costume-hanbok. Not rental-hanbok.

Serious, historical-drama, museum-textbook hanbok.

They stared at her like she had just crawled out of the moon.

Ha-eun looked down at herself.

Hoodie.

School skirt.

Wet sneakers.

She looked like a lost extra from a completely different tv show.

One man in official robes dropped the scroll he was holding.

A woman covered her mouth. "A spirit _"

"I am not a spirit!" Ha-eun squeaked, scrambling to her feet, immediately slipping again and windmilling her arms. "I am just very unlucky!"

That didn't help.

Guards in armor rushed forward, spears shaking.

"Don't move!"

"I wasn't planning to _" she tripped over the hem of someone's rob and almost face-planted again. "OKAY I MOVED BUT NOT ON PURPOSE!"

A drum suddenly boomed.

Everyone gasped.

Then, as one, the crowd dropped to their knees.

Ha-eun remained standing.

Because she was too busy panicking.

A voice rang out, smooth and commanding

People didn't just kneel.

They collapsed.

Court officials dropped like rice sacks. Servants flattened themselves so low Ha-eun briefly wondered if this was some kind of advanced yoga pose. Even the guards stiffened, eyes forward, breathing carefully like the air itself was fragile.

Everyone.

Except her.

Ha-eun stood there blinking.

"Oh-OH." she looked around. "This is the kneeling part, right?"

Too late.

Footsteps approached _ slow, measured terrifyingly calm.

Okay. Bow. Kneel. Do something respectful, her brain screamed.

She bent forward too fast, lost her balance, and nearly headbutted the stone floor.

"Whoa_!"

A collective gasp rippled through the courtyard.

Somewhere, someone whispered a prayer.

She ended up in a half-kneel, half-squat that felt deeply wrong but was now impossible to escape without falling again. So she froze. Like a broken statue.

The footsteps stopped in front of her.

Silence pressed down so hard her ears rang.

She slowly lifted her eyes.

Red robes filled her vision _ rich, heavy silk embroidered with a golden dragon that seemed to watch her back. Above that a calm face. Sharp eyes. Perfect posture. Not a hair out of place.

The king of Joseon.

Her brain shut down.

She blurted. "Wow."

Several officials looked like they might faint.

The king studied her quietly, gaze flicking from her soaked hoodie to her sneakers to the way she was kneeling incorrectly in at least three different ways.

"... Stand," he said.

"Really?" she asked, hopefully.

The court official hissed, "You do not question His Majesty!"

"I wasn't questioning, I was confirming!" she said automatically _ and then realized what she had done. "Oh. oh no."

The king raised one hand.

Silence returned instantly.

"Yes," he said calmly. "Stand."

Ha-eun scrambled to her feet _ only to slip slightly on the wet stone. A guard moved on instinct, catching her arms before she could fall straight into the king.

Every soul in the palace stopped breathing.

Ha-eun stared at the guard's hand on her sleeve. Then at the king. "Sorry. I promise I'm usually only this clumsy on special occasions."

The king blinked.

Just once.

"Your name," he said.

She opened her mouth.

Then hesitated.

Do I tell the truth? Lie? Pretend I'm a noble? A spirit? A very confused merchant?

"...Yoon Ha-eun," she said finally. "I'm from _ very far away."

"That is obvious," he replied.

That...was fair.

He circled her slowly, hands behind his back, studying her like a strange artifact. "Your clothes are unfamiliar. Your speech lacks proper form. And you appear in the palace courtyard without passing a single gate."

"Yes," she said earnestly. "I am having a very bad day."

A few servants twitched. Was that..... almost a smile?

The king stopped in front of her. "Did you enter with intent to deceive?"

"No!"

"Intent to spy?"

"Absolutely not"

"Intent to cause disorder?"

She thought about it. "Not intentionally?"

Several officials sucked in a breath.

The king closed his eyes.

Just for a moment.