The Traveler

His walk was lively, especially when he managed to visualize the walls that were protecting the unknown land. TaeHyung put the notebook he was using to collect data away and sang in his native language with great energy. Where would the entrance be? Was there a shortcut to sneak in? He laughed like a child. He positioned his hands behind his back and walked in small steps, searching for something that could let him step inside the high walls. Within minutes, he spotted a small shortcut. He squealed happily. However, he couldn't take even one step further. — Ah, s**t. —He exclaimed under his breath when he felt the edge of a sword brush against his jugular. And in a blink, he was hit on the head, and vision was engulfed in black emptiness. [...] His skin began to tingle and his senses followed the feeling. It wasn't a lie when people said that TaeHyung has a tough head. Anyone would have died from the tremendous blow, but he did not. He started waking up while he felt how his body was dragged by a ground that he couldn’t see. His eyes were blindfolded, and his ears were unable to get anything out of the fuss surrounding him. He could tell that a fair amount of people was walking beside him due to the multiple steps he heard. They were speaking strangely. What language was that? Why the hell is a Gong* playing in the background? Was he in the Qing* Dynasty? No, he couldn't be there. He knew the terrain very well and there was no isolated land that wasn’t colonized; Qing was rich in tourism and they treated the foreigners quite excellent, mostly their wom... “Concentrate, TaeHyung! They are about to roast your precious ass. Think, think”. However, nothing came to his mind. What was it that was pressing on his wrists, bamboo handcuffs? In what year did they live, in the archaic ones? He fell flat on the ground when he was pushed from behind, he groaned under his breath. Didn’t these people know what it mean to be gentle? — Be careful, asshole. He (again) heard the rumble of the great metal disc that he fervently classified as Gong. He wondered again if he was in the Qing Dynasty and the current emperor was playing a prank on him because they were good friends, right? He presented him investors beyond his category, and he did convince the scholars of his own country to travel to the land just to teach his language; he had done too much for that i***t, it would be foolish if he was playing a joke on him. Unless the joke was accompanied by a promising exquisiteness of concubines and exotic foods afterward. He did miss fooling around with such wom… His head was forced against the asphalt. He swore for the thousandth time. The joke wasn't funny. He heard someone mutter a claim in a dialect that he didn't even understand. “Manure miRA what?” He didn't know where his mind was and they were already scolding him? — Stupid guard, can you not notice I can't see s**t and I'm a foreigner? What the f**k am I going to understand? —he complained. He heard how silence expanded across the room when he shouted. Why did everyone go silent? Was the joke about to be over? Another rumble on the mental disc broke the silence and made him jump scared. Those people should be more considerate of his ears. Out of nowhere, he heard a large number of male voices speak formally behind him, their words seemed very flat and cold. The pronunciation seemed strangely familiar, where did he hear something like that? He felt hands poke at the back of his neck aggressively. He squealed in shock. He thought they were going to give him another blow, yet the clarity struck him mercilessly; they removed the blindfold from his eyes. The first thing he saw was the tile stuck to his nose which was decorated in gold... pure gold. BINGO! He won the lottery. Happily, he kissed the ground while his mind calculated in a microsecond all the money he could get by taking a small piece of that decoration, (ignoring the fact that he could be murdered in any second). It was a dream come true... a dream that was shattered when his head was slammed into the ground for the umpteenth time. — Damn, that’s it! I'm tired of your negligence, first, they put a stupid sword in my neck, then I...—he began to complain as he was lifted by the forearms—... thank you —he paused,— ...as I was saying, they gave me a punch that could leave anyone in a coma, then blindfolded me, blindfolded me! Don't you know how insulting it is ... —His eyes caught the majesty in front of him and his lips began to tremble as the rest of the sentence came out of his lips by inertia—... to deprive me of admiring this beauty? His heart stopped beating when the image before him became clearer. In seconds, he deduced that he was on the outskirts of a palace, one vast of wonders, however, the space and the conditions of the place couldn’t catch as much of his attention as the man who imposed himself in front of him. He couldn’t even feel the arms of the imperial guards that forced him to stay still. On a throne made of gold, there was an angel. Was he in heaven? He denied perplexed, he was still too young to die, yet that man who was standing with sophistication on that throne didn’t seem mortal. He had pale milky skin and golden hair that danced down his shoulders to an unknown place on his back that TaeHyung wasn’t able to see. He had ferocious eyes and TaeHyung couldn't find an imperfection under them. Despite looking like a perfect man, the majestic king had a stupefied grin on his lips, abstaining TaeHyung from being able to imagine what they would look like in a smile. Could that special being smile? TaeHyung gave him a square smile full of charm, the characteristic one he used to make everyone fall for him, nevertheless, his smile made the man's face twitch in confusion. — “Insolent, are you making fun of me?” —Such words stirred up the audience that TaeHyung hadn't noticed until now. Shouts and exclamations were heard throughout the palace, and in a flash, he felt another sword threaten his neck. That man sat on the throne and glared at him. TaeHyung shrugged into his place and laughed nervously. Did he forget to mention that he laughs in the worst moments? He’s going to die.