The Ringing from the Void
A long, heavy silence stretched between them on the stairs. Jo Ri was fighting to find a way to push him away, while De Lan remained in a state of shock from her broken pleas. This stillness was shattered by the echo of rhythmic, grumbling footsteps ascending from below heavy steps that bore no resemblance to the quiet, graceful gait of a Queen in the palace corridors. They both bolted upright simultaneously, as if their ancient Joseon instincts were screaming that a private meeting between a strange man and woman was a "sin" demanding severe punishment. From a distance, they heard De Lan's mother complaining sharply:
- Is this door still locked? Where have those two vanished? It's as if the earth opened up and swallowed them whole!
In that critical moment, the "metal box" (the mobile phone) in De Lan's hand vibrated and let out a sudden ring that startled him so much he nearly dropped it. Remembering the green signal he had seen Jo Ri use earlier, he pressed it recklessly, ignoring the red warning icon. To his utter astonishment, his mother's commanding voice erupted from the "void":
- Jo Ri! Where are you?
De Lan replied with a confusion that paralyzed his royal mind:
- We... we are here... in front of my aunt's house.
His mother's voice shrieked through the device, nearly piercing his eardrum:
- Why is your phone off? And why are you with her again? Didn't I warn you against meeting her alone? Get home this instant! It seems I must keep my eyes on the both of you every single second!
The Key of Secrets and Unforgettable Vows
De Lan stood frozen, unsure of how to respond, his eyes fixed on Jo Ri as she frantically gestured for him to tell his mother they weren't together. However, he replied with a forced perfection, realizing he couldn't decipher a single one of Jo Ri's erratic signals:
- Jo Ri and I are waiting for you here on the stairs.
- Why wait? Where is your key?
His mother's sharp voice crackled through the phone.
- If you lost it, it's under the flowerpot by the door. Did you forget, son?
- No... I didn't forget,
De Lan pivoted with quick wit.
- I just feared you would be angry if we entered and stayed alone together.
- Good... now move, lunch is waiting for you both!
Her voice reached him in a double echo once from the strange device in his hand, and again from her actual voice resonating from the lower floor. He ended the call feeling a small sense of victory; he had successfully lured out the secret of the "key." He turned to Jo Ri and said softly:
- There is a key hidden under the plant over there... go change your clothes and join me for lunch.
Jo Ri nodded in silent agreement, but before placing the key in the lock, she turned back to him with a gaze that was pleading yet firm as a blade:
- Do you remember my request from a moment ago? Please... promise to grant me this truce, just as you promised (Mi Fa) yesterday that you would stay with her for the rest of your life.
The Mask of Beauty and the Jewel of the Past
De Lan stood frozen in place, as if a bolt of pure astonishment had struck his core. How did she know about his secret promise to Mi Fa? He wanted to stop her, to interrogate her, but she was faster than his confusion. She slipped inside and slammed the door behind her, leaving the key forgotten in the lock from the outside. He resisted the urge to follow her and remained stationed in his place, waiting for her to emerge. Questions gnawed at his mind: Did she know everything? Even his hidden desire to imprison her? That thought sent a cold shiver down his spine, realizing that he had opened the gates of hell upon himself with the vow he had made to Mi Fa.
Inside, Jo Ri was fighting her own battle in front of the wardrobe. She chose clothes she had seen in photos of the "other Jo Ri" to camouflage her identity, and carefully styled her hair into a large bun atop her head. She couldn't resist adding a royal touch to remind her of her origins; she fastened one of the precious jewels saved from her ill-fated wedding night into the center of the bun. Then, with a hesitant hand, she used that "pink wand" (lipstick) just as she had seen her friends do, tinting her lips with the color of the new era.
Masks of Truth and the Strangers' Alliance
After ending the battle with her "new self" the woman she aspired to become Jo Ri stood gazing at her reflection one last time. A question echoed in her mind: "For whom am I beautifying myself? To whom am I trying to prove my existence?" If it was for De Lan, she would wipe that color away instantly. If it was for the "strong self" she dreamed of giving birth to, she would keep it as an ornament of her revolution. She stared for a long time, then realized with bitterness that she had done it craving his attention. She wiped the lipstick off fiercely and opened the door, stepping out with her natural features.
To her surprise, she found him still stationed there.
- Were you actually waiting for me?
She asked, unable to hide her astonishment.
De Lan replied with a strange honesty, trying to wrap his confession in a logical excuse:
- Yes... I'm afraid to go down alone. I fear that woman will sense with her intuition that I am not her son.
- Coward! Do you not know the art of acting?
She mocked him with a faint, joyless smile.
- It's not about acting.
He snapped back.
- it's that I don't know the traits of the 'other De Lan' to perfect my imitation!
Jo Ri sighed deeply, her voice carrying a trace of newfound wisdom.
- I understand, I am suffering from the same predicament.
Then she continued firmly,
- It's best not to call her 'the other De Lan's mother. Just say Mother or Mum so your tongue doesn't slip and expose us. That's how I heard my friends speak of their mothers. Remember... we will live here like shadows until we decipher the mystery of our arrival in this world.
The Banquet of Suspicion and the Question of Spectacles
They descended together with cautious steps, standing before the lower door in silent confusion; how was this fortress of a door supposed to open? Before either could reach out, the door swung open abruptly, revealing the mother's irate face, as if she had been lurking behind the wood, lying in wait.
- Am I supposed to wait until tomorrow? Why are you standing here like stone statues?"
- I... I was just about to enter,
De Lan stammered, his royal eloquence failing him under the sheer dominance of this woman.
They stepped into the house under a relentless, fiery gaze. Their eyes scanned every corner with trepidation, searching for a hidden thread that might lead them to the correct seating positions of the original souls whose lives they had usurped.
The mother sat at the head of the dining table with a majesty that rivaled the solemnity of Queens in Joseon. De Lan sat beside her, his body stiff and his breath held tight, while Jo Ri settled into the opposite seat, struggling to decipher the strange dishes and clashing colors on the plates before her. Suddenly, the mother stopped eating. She narrowed her eyes with piercing suspicion, scrutinizing their faces with excruciating detail before asking in a sharp, clinical voice:
- Where are your glasses?
The Wrath of the Five Spectacles and the Storm of Dishes
The question struck them like a thunderbolt; it had never occurred to them that their new bodies required those glass lenses perched on the nose to see the world clearly. Jo Ri froze in her tracks, while De Lan found no solution but to flee. He abruptly pushed his chair back with a loud scrape and said with a forced coldness:
- I'm done!
He beat a hasty retreat, leaving Jo Ri alone to face the raging storm. The mother turned toward Jo Ri, asking with an uncompromising sharpness:
- Did you break your glasses too? Or lost it.
A heavy silence followed, broken only by the frantic thumping of Jo Ri's heart. The mother continued, her voice saturated with indignation:
- Silence is proof of the crime! Do you both have any idea how much money we squander on this? This is the fifth pair of glasses for you this year! Why can't you two take care of your belongings like normal human beings?
Then, she raised her booming voice so it would pierce through the walls and reach De Lan, lurking behind his door:
- And that goes for the one hiding in his room as well! Don't think walls will shield you from my wrath!
The mother stood up suddenly, the last thread of her patience snapping:
- It's like I'm talking to senseless rocks! I'm sick of repeating advice that falls on deaf ears. Jo Ri... as soon as you finish your meal, you are to help me wash the dishes. No pampering today... the days of the spoiled princess are over!
The Prince's Pride and the Kitchen Sink
The mother gathered the dishes, then suddenly stopped and screamed with a voice that shook the house, as if struck by lightning:
- De Lan! Have you lost your mind? Get over here this instant!
De Lan rushed out of his room, wary, only to find her glaring at him with a cryptic, ominous look. She asked with a terrifying coldness that froze the blood in his veins:
- Who am I to you?
- You, you are my mother!
He replied, paralyzed with confusion.
- I know
She replied, pointing her finger at his plate left carelessly on the table, then snapping her gaze back to him:
- I'll ask you for the second time... who am I to you?
Sweat poured from De Lan's forehead, and he cast an accusatory glance at Jo Ri, as if asking:
- What did you snitch about?
But the mother finally exploded with a roar that shook the walls:
- De Lan! Your plate! Am I your servant? Why didn't you pick it up to wash it? You did the same thing this morning!
Jo Ri breathed a sigh of relief, while the Prince stood dumbfounded before the "plate." The idea of a King washing a dish was beyond even the wildest dreams of his ancestors. Jo Ri rushed to save him with royal wit:
- Forgive him, Auntie... he was scolded at school today because he didn't finish his assignments. He even slipped out of one of the classes, so his mind is elsewhere.
The mother turned with even greater shock:
- You skipped class?! You, the perfect, diligent student?
De Lan glared at her to shut her up, then pivoted to reclaim his dignity:
- I finished the assignment, but the last paragraph was incomplete. The teacher was used to my precision, so he was quite angry.
- Go wash your plate now! Jo Ri... do you want to watch TV?
The mother said, heading for the sofa.
De Lan looked helplessly at Jo Ri, begging for her mercy. With a nobility befitting a princess, she took both her plate and his and headed for the sink. She began washing them while staring at him with a defiant, triumphant smirk, as if whispering: "This is the first fortress of your pride to fall here... in the presence of soap and water."
The Magic of the Wall and the Final Dish
The mother grabbed a rectangular plastic object cluttered with buttons, and with a single click, a massive panel mounted on the wall ignited with brilliant light. Images of wild animals roaming vast forests erupted onto the screen, accompanied by a deep, resonant voice narrating the hidden secrets of nature. Jo Ri stood paralyzed in awe it was the same concept as the "flat box" they carried, but scaled to the size of an entire wall! As for De Lan, he was rooted to the spot in shock, watching a world move and pulse with life within a silent glass frame.
With a bold curiosity, Jo Ri snatched the remote control from the mother's side and pressed a button. The screen exploded with the image of a young man in bizarre clothing and chaotic hair, singing loudly with movements that seemed utterly barbaric and repulsive compared to the solemnity of Joseon.
- De Lan! Haven't you finished washing your plate yet?"
The mother shouted without looking away from the screen.
- I'm almost done
De Lan replied, scrubbing the last plate with grueling effort. Jo Ri had intentionally left that final dish for him to practice on. He stood there, drowned in bewilderment the Great Prince of Joseon, battling soap suds and washing his own dishes for the first time in his history and the history of his entire lineage!